God Is Good. 


Yes, dear children, God is good. Do you want

me to tell you why I say he is good? One

thing is because he has been so very good to

me. When I was less than a year old my

mother was taken from me by death. 

Consumption

did its work quickly; but ere she died she gave

me to her aged mother. Her health being quite

poor, it brought a great burden of care upon her;

but well did she perform the task, and as far as I

can remember, every day my heart became more

closely knit with hers. She was ever so kind and

tender of me, and I thought her word was my

 law, and I loved to obey her. How narrowly I

 watched her. If I saw her suffering, it caused me

 to suffer; and often did I tell her if she died, I

 wanted to die also. Little did I think she could 

be taken from me, but alas, lingering 

consumption had fastened itself so firmly upon

 her frail form that medical aid was of no avail. 

I saw her failing health, and in every way that 

I could save her a step, it was a joy to me. 

Although young, I could do many things to 

lighten her daily cares. How it cheered me to

 hear her say, "My little girl can do nearly all my

 washing for four of us in a family."I was then

 about eleven years old. She lived till I was in 

my fourteenth year.

As we were alone one day she said to me, "My

 child, what will you do when your mother is 

gone?” What could I answer! After a while I said,

 "Oh mother, don't leave me; I could not live 

without you; no one will love me as you do." She

 said. "God will love you, my dear child." She 

wept with me awhile and then said she had long

 prayed that she might be spared till I was old

 enough to take care of myself, and she believed

 God had heard her prayers.

In a few days she was taken raising blood and

 brought down quite low. 0 how tenderly I 

watched over her; how I tried to make her 

sufferings as light as possible. At length Spring

 came, and the trees put on their foliage. I saw

 that my mother grew weaker and weaker, and I

 felt that she must die. 0 how fervently I plead

 with my heavenly Father to spare her a little

 longer, but if it was not his will, to take me, for

 I thought I could not live without her.

One afternoon, the last of May, she seemed to

brighten up a little; my heart was filled with joy

as a gleam of hope sprang up within me, a hope

that perhaps she would be spared. She called me

to her bedside, told me to sit down, as she had

something to say to me. I seated myself by her

and looked at her a moment; what a change had

come over her! It pained my very heart. "Esther,”

said she, "I am going to leave you."Oh how

differeut her voice sounded; it thrilled my very

heart. I could not speak. She said again, "My

child, what will you do when I am gone? This

world looks dark and dreary for me to leave you

alone without a mother. But God is good; he will

never leave you if you love and obey him. Will

you ever try to trust in him? Will you daily pray

to him, that his care may be over you? Your 

health is poor, but I leave you in the hands of my

 kind friend, Jesus. Will you always remember my

 advice to you?"

I put my arms around her neck and said, "Oh

mother, I will, I will! But mother, don't leave me;

for I don't love any one but you and God." My

heart was so bound up with hers, that I thought

 no one else could share with her in my 

affections.

That night we watched over her. As she lay quiet

and easy, she begged of me to go to bed. I did

 so, but not to sleep; ah no, sleep was far from

 me. I had lain but a short time when I heard my

 father say, "I am afraid she is going." I ran to 

her bedside; the death-rattle was in her throat.

 She raised her eyes to me; I can never forget

 that look. I knelt by her, took her hand and said,

 "Oh, mother, do you know me?" "Yes," said she,

 "it is Esther, my child." It was her last words;

 she died holding my hand.

Dear children Did any of you ever stand by the

bedside of a dying mother ? If you have, you can

imagine my feelings at that time better than I 

can describe them. How dreary every thing 

seemed to me. I did not like to hear the birds

 sing; I thought they only mocked at my grief. We

 followed her to her grave. Every thing seemed

 changed when we had buried her. It seemed as

 though I never could return to the house again;

 but some friends went back with us to comfort

 us in our affliction. It was different with me from

 most children of my age. My mother's health had

 ever been poor, my own constitution feeble, 

which kept me at home nearly all of the time.

 I had never been away three days at a time

 without her. Thus you see my whole being

seemed bound up in her. I had many kind friends,

but none could fill the place of that mother. And

now while I pen these lines my eyes are dimmed

with tears at the thought of her. And whenever I

see children that have a kind mother, feeble in

health, toiling and suffering from day to day to

 rear them up to an age that they can be able to

 take care of themselves, and treat her unkindly,

 oh how it pains my heart, and I pray God to help

 them to realize how lonely they would be 

without her.

Dear children, those of you who have kind 

parents, oh, be kind and obey them. If they chide

 you for your faults, do not treat them unkindly.

 Remember

the promise of God to obedient children:

"Thy days shall be long upon the land which the

Lord thy God giveth thee." That land will be

upon the New Earth. Let us all try to have a 

dwelling-place there. 




ESTHER P. WARREN