Have you a Friend whose wondrous grace
Lights up with joy the darkest place,
Who to the end will still prove true?

“Tell What the Lord Has Done for You!”*

Oh, tell what He’s done for you,
Of His love, so strong and true,
Oh, tell, what He’s done, what He’s done for you,
Others may need Him, too.

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On Trusting in God

In the fall, our oldest girl, Ruth, started to school. Scarlet fever got in the school, but in such a light form that the children were not very sick, so at first they didn’t realize what it was. Ruth was one of its victims. She came home with a light fever, a little flushed and breaking out, etc., but not enough for us to realize anything serious or unusual. In a very few days, she had severe ear aches and her ears had gathered and began running pus. About that time, the school learned what the disease was and called me about Ruth and told me to contact a doctor and see what it was or they would have to send the health officers. I called a doctor who knew of our faith and had taken care of me when our babies were born, but he found no signs of scarlet fever on her. Esther was not feeling well and was lying around that morning. He looked at her and she was taking it. On inquiry about the case, it was the right time for her to take it from Ruth. On closer examination he found some scales and where she (Esther) had a light case of it. Before Ruth became sick, she had been running and got warm at school; had taken cold and the scarlet fever had settled in her head and mastoid glands. She was a very sick child.

Esther did not have it very severely, so we were only put under quarantine about two or three weeks. My husband was quarantined out and I in, but I had a bedroom off to itself and the doctor said that as sick as Ruth was and Esther down, for me to be left all alone with the three little children was not safe. He had found me trustworthy, so he instructed me to fix that room and let my husband sleep there. That way my husband could get out to continue work and also bring groceries and things that I would need. We did that, but I had the care of the children day and night, and all the washing and ironing by myself. Ruth’s head continued to get worse.

We wrote my oldest sister in Iowa asking if she could come and help awhile as Mama and Papa could not do their own work. I could not get out, nor could I leave the children to help them. She came and cared for our parents and cooked food, washed for Husband, and cooked food, washed for husband, and brought cooked food to me, which was a great help.

The men at the shop [where Bro. Gus worked] became very angry because we did not doctor. One evening when he went to work, the boys said, “We won’t work anymore with Gus. How do we know he can go home and come to work? He has to go home because they are not doctoring, or we will go home!” They were not afraid of him, but wanted to cause trouble because we were trusting the Lord. His foreman came to him and said, “Gus, I’m sorry to send you home, but there is nothing I can do about it. Tomorrow, you go to the doctor and get a permit for you to work, and if you bring me a work permit, they can go home if they want to; you can work.” He did, and the doctor wrote him a permit. It was his order for Gus to sleep at home, and there was no danger to anyone. In a few days, the quarantine was taken down, but Ruth was getting weaker and thinner. Her ears continued to run and had to be washed and dressed every twenty minutes. Her face and head had swelled until she could not open her mouth. We had to pour a little liquid between her teeth with a teaspoon to feed her. Pus was coming out all around her fingernails and toenails. She was a mere skeleton—her hands looked like toothpicks covered with skin. She had been naturally a very plump and pretty child.

The men continued to put heavy persecution on my husband and were extremely angry with him. They were trying to make him realize he had waited too long now and that nothing could be done for her. They decided if he would call a doctor and try to do something, all right; but if not, as soon as word was received that she was gone, officers would be sent and he would be taken for manslaughter and abuse, and he would not be able to see the child, nor attend her funeral. It looked like she might go anytime. He became so burdened he scarcely knew what to do. He could not work any longer.

My sister and I were watching over her frail form, washing away the pus that seemed to constantly flow from her ears, down over her face and beautiful hair, and washing those boney little hands and feet that were constantly losing blood and pus. I tell you it was a trying time! Husband came home. Mother and Father were sitting in the room with us. I looked up and asked Husband if he were sick, he looked so pale. He said, “No, but I just can’t work.” Then he told how the men had again informed him of what they were going to do. He thought of me, the children, Mama and Papa, and how hard it would be on us, and he just could not work. What should we do?

The right counsel in a crisis will many times save a soul. He wanted to trust God, but if he did, what were we willing to do?

Mama immediately and unfalteringly said, “Gus, trust God.”

But he asked, “If I do and she dies and they send me to the penitentiary, what will you folks and wife do?”

She replied, “If you do go, God will make a way for us. He always has and He won’t fail us now.”

I said, “If God permits you to go to the penitentiary, it would be for a purpose and maybe you could help some lost soul. But God is able to heal her and frustrate their plans. Commit her wholly into God’s hands and be willing to say from the bottom of our hearts, ‘Thy will be done.’ God will help us.”

Gus had not felt he could give her up. As we prayed that night and submitted all to Him, we sought Him to go before us and fight our battles. Again we asked Him to show His mighty power and heal our child. He knew we meant to trust Him. She seemed to get relief and went to sleep.

There was a little spot on the side of her face close to her ear that was swollen badly and seemed to stay the same for several days. The next morning I noticed it looked more like a boil coming to head. By Sunday morning, it looked as if it were getting ready to open. Her ear was still running. My sister, husband, and I were gone to the kitchen to try to eat a little around noon. We sat down and had started to eat when Ruth called, “Mama, my ear and face are running!” I jumped and started to her, and that place had opened. Pus was coming from a hole in the side of her face like water running through a straw. I grabbed a roll of cotton and tore off a piece and began to wipe the pus. Husband and Sister had followed me. She took the roll of cotton and began tearing it off and handing it to me while Husband held a wash pan for me to throw the waste cotton in. As the pus ran, the swelling in her face slowly began to go down like the air leaking from a balloon. I never saw so much pus come from one person. The three of us continued to work until we had used a little more than one and one-half large rolls of medicated cotton. After the swelling had gone down, it looked like the skin of her face was stuck to the bone. There were two holes right together just in front of the lower part of her ear and just below her temple where the pus had come from. The running in her ears was gone and she could open her mouth a little. In about half an hour more pus had gathered and it began to run again. We used about another one-half roll of cotton.

From that time on, we didn’t have any more trouble with her ears, fingers and toenails running. God had cleared her of it, and she began to amend and eat. The bone on the side of her face looked sunken and saucer shaped. It looked as if it would be a big scar and that side of her face disfigured. It was wonderful how the Lord took care of it all. It was not very long until her face began to come to shape, and in a very few years, only a small scar was left. You would scarcely notice that. Thus, God fought our battles and gave us the victory and manifested His mighty power! Praise the Lord!

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He is the Just the Same Today

To begin, I would like to say that I’m not one that just doesn’t take medicine and never goes to doctors. Neither do I just believe that God can heal, but then suffer through sickness with no relief or answers. Instead, I believe that God will heal and does, for it is His perfect will to do so for all those that will so trust in Him. I also believe He has a purpose to perform whenever He allows us to suffer in our bodies: therefore, if we seek men to cure our ailments and diseases, we are avoiding the blessing and good He has designed for us in it, and missing an opportunity to increase our faith in God (which we vitally need). In these things, I also am learning to grow, and I praise the Lord for His faithfulness to me.

Therefore, I will now testify how the Lord has been my Healer in a recent affliction. I had hurt my back so that I couldn’t walk normally. We were working outside, and I had tried to shove a heavy cinder block with my foot, and in so doing had strained my lower back. After that, I could not rest my weight on my right leg without feeling much pain. This injury happened shortly before lunch.

My father made me a homemade crutch, which I could use to hop around on my left leg, and I soon discovered how much it means to lose the use of such a vital part of one’s body. Instead of being able to hurry from place to place and help out, I had to plan my moves carefully and try not to go anywhere unnecessarily. It surely helped me to be thankful for the other parts of me that were working well! I was also grateful that I wasn’t in much discomfort when I kept off my right leg. After a few hours, I could feel the extra strain in other places, but the Lord helped me through the day, and I was very grateful not to be too much of a burden.

Through the whole time, my first desire was that the Lord would be glorified through this affliction. I realized that He had allowed it, as with all afflictions and trials that come our way, so that He could work His perfect will in me. One of the reasons I believe He gave me a few hours of being lame was so that I might sympathize better with others. Another reason was this: that I could share His ways and workings with you. I believed in my heart that in His timing, the Lord would and could heal me. I wanted it to be in a way that He would get the glory and not myself.

Therefore, we had an agreement of prayer that night that we would receive the blessing that the Lord had planned for us out of this. I still felt the strain in my back as I lay in bed, yet I went to sleep with an amen in my heart to whatever the Lord willed—whether I would be thus for a day or lifetime. He has promised grace for each day and mercies new for every morning; it was my place to trust and not be afraid.

At about 2:45 the next morning, I woke up with a realization that I felt perfectly comfortable. I felt that the Lord must have healed me, but I decided to test my back by turning over into a position that I remembered had caused it pain the night before. Though I felt a slight tiredness, I could easily support my weight on the right side. With great joyfulness, I thanked the Lord for His goodness to me, for I indeed wanted to be a blessing and not a lame burden upon my family. (Though I know the Lord can help us to be a blessing in any physical condition we might be in.) I awoke later that morning with a delightful feeling at being able to walk normally, with only a slight tiredness where the strain used to be. I had been lame for only about 15 hours, but it was enough time for me to be very thankful for two legs!

“Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits… Who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies.”* (Psalm 103:2-4) Yes, it is the Lord who is our Healer, purposing greater things than physical comfort through His workings with us. Praise the Lord, for He has been faithful and true to me, and “He will show like mercies to all that will put their faith steadfast in Him!”* (Hebrews 3:14)

Laura Erickson
Turner, OR

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Free from Sin, Happy in Jesus’ Love

Dear Girls:

I want to give my testimony for Jesus; for I am thankful for His goodness to me. When a vile sinner, He showed me my need of Him, and when I sought Him with my whole heart, calling on Him for mercy, and was so in earnest that I could not arise from my knees without forgiveness, He laid His loving hand on my head and said, “Your sins are all forgiven.” Oh, how my heart did rejoice at these words, and such a sweet peace came into soul!

So many people tell us that salvation is all excitement; but do not believe it, for it is real. I was all alone when God, for Jesus’ sake, forgave me all my sins, and oh, how precious is the place where I first knew His love and mercy! If I had known how much pleasure there is in serving God, being His own dear child, I would have started years before I did; for I was seeking pleasure in every way and had many opportunities for worldly amusement. But you know, dear girls, that as soon as these are over, you are tired, and your heart aches; for it is not satisfied with these things. But, praise the Lord, when we are free from sin, we are happy all the time; for when trials and troubles come, we can take them to Jesus, and He bears them for us by giving us grace and comfort and taking our care, for we know He doth intercede for us continually, and all things work for our good.

Dear girls, do not try to live better lives in your own strength, but ask God for conviction and study your Bibles. Humble yourselves to God, and He will raise you up and give you such a blessing you can scarcely contain it. Then do not look at other professing Christians and let their failures keep you from enjoying what God has for you. Look to Jesus; for there is a narrow, straight way, and you may find it if you desire to. Let not the devil make you think that you are too great a sinner for God to notice or to save. He is able to save the uttermost all who come to Him. No matter what their sins have been, He is willing to make the heart pure, thus honoring Himself by His mighty works of love and mercy.

Two days after the Lord forgave my sins, He purified my heart, and filled me with His Spirit and love, so I could love Him with my whole heart, and live to His honor and glory.

So, dear girls, give Him the whole of your lives, and you will not regret it in the vast eternity. Then you will be ready, without a moment’s notice, to exchange worlds, and be ushered into divine presence; for that is the chief joy of the Christian—sweet fellowship with our Father and our Redeemer.

May God bless each reader with deep conviction and a desire for all that is good, that you may be happy in every circumstance in life and endless ages of the great eternity.

Yours, ever happy in the Lord,
Bertha Elwood