ainst my mother's breast, I said in my heart:

"Lord Jesus, if you will take away this toothache right now, _now_, I
will be your little girl for three years."

Before the prayer was well uttered the pain was entirely gone. I
believed that Jesus had taken it away; and the result was that for
years, when tempted to be naughty, I was afraid to do what I knew was
wrong lest, if I broke my side of what I felt to be a compact, the
toothache would return. This little incident had a real influence over
my early life, gave me a constant sense of the reality of a divine
presence, and so helped to prepare me for the public confession of
Christ as my Saviour a few years later, at the age of eleven.

* * * * *

About a year after my confession of Christ an incident occurred which
greatly strengthened my faith, and led me to look to God as a Father in
a new way.

When Easter Sunday morning came it was so warm only spring clothes
could be worn. My sister and I decided at breakfast that we would not go
to church, as we had only our old winter dresses. Going to my room, I
turned to my Bible to study it, when it opened at the sixth chapter of
Matthew, and my eye rested on these words: "Why take ye thought for
raiment . . . seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall
be added unto you."

It was as if God spoke the words directly to me. I determined to go to
church, even if I had to humiliate myself by going in my old winter
dress. The Lord was true to his promise; I can still feel the power the
resurrection messages had upon my heart that day so long ago. And
further, on the following day a box came from a distant aunt, containing
not only new dresses but much else that might well be included in the
"all these things."

* * * * *

An unforgetable proof of God's loving care came to us as a family about
this time, when my parents were face to face with a serious financial
crisis. Isaiah 65:24 was literally fulfilled: "Before they call, I will
answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear."

At that time, it is necessary to state, we depended on a quarterly
income, which came through my mother's lawyer in England. Unusual
circumstances had so drained our resources that we found ourselves, in
the middle of the quarter, with barely sufficient to meet a week's
needs. My dear mother assured us that the Lord would provide; that he
would not forsake t