I1FT FOR
By HELEN FRAZEE-BOWER
to young then, so God’s answer to you was, ‘You must wait awhile.’ I answered you when you asked for a cooky, but my answer was ‘wait,’ wasn’t it?” Mike nodded. “ I see. Does God sometimes say ‘no’ too, as you said ‘no’ when I asked to play with Cecil?” Mother gave her little boy a long, serious look. “Yes, Mike, God sometimes says ‘no.’ ” Mike understood, but he was not satisfied. Somehow, he felt that “no” or “wait” would not do for Jenny; but he could not tell Mother this. On Sunday morning the children brought out their gifts and put them beside Mother’s plate. Daddy had ,a Bouquets fo r Mother John Quincy Adams said: "All that I am my mother made me." Abraham Lincoln said: "All that I am or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.11 Dwight L. Moody declared: "All that I have ever ac complished in life, I owe to my mother.1 Napoleon was a sage when he said: "Let France have good mothers, and she will have good sons.1 Andrew Carnegie frequently acknowledged the tender interest and influence of his mother. Henry Ward Beecher once said: "The memory of my sainted mother is the brightest recollection of my early years." President McKinley provided in his will that, first of all, his mother should be made comfortable for life. Garfield's first act, after being inaugurated President of the United States, was to stoop and kiss his aged mother, who sat near him. Julia Ward Howe, when ninety-one years of age, said: "We talk of forty horse-power. If we had forty mother- power it would be the most wonderful force in the world." — Selected present too. Jenny’s eyes grew bright with happiness as she watched her towel being unwrapped and listened to her mother’s words of praise. Mike said, “ It’s not much,” when his gift was being opened, but his small face beamed with pride, just the same. Mother kissed the children and acknowledged Daddy’s corsage with a particularly fond look. Then she said, “And now I must run and dress Debbie. She must look her prettiest on her first Mother’s Day.” After Mother had carried the baby away to be bathed, Jenny went to the empty crib and turned over the pillow. There was nothing there. Carefully she folded up the blankets. There was no present there. Her eyes were sober as she turned away. “Mike! Jenny! Come quick,” Mother called. “Come see
what Debbie gave me for Mother’s Day!” The children hurried to the kitchen. “ I don’t see a thing,” Mike said. “Wait a minute.” Mother touched the baby on one dimpled cheek and immediately she smiled. There, in the very center of her wide grin, like a pearl on a pink cushion, was Debbie’s first tooth! The children l a u gh e d with delight, and Mother snuggled the baby against her neck for a moment. “Pre cious, you had a gift for Mother too, didn’t you? Wasn’t that pretty smart of her to know it was Mother’s Day, Jenny?” But Jenny had disappeared. Down on her knees beside her bed she was thanking God. “You did it!” she said, “You did it! I knew you would. You said, if I believed, you would do it — and you did. Thank you, Lord, for Debbie’s tooth. I think Mother liked it best of all her gifts. But then of course, your gifts are always best.” Mike came to the door and looked in. Then he bowed his own head. “She is such a believing little girl,” he said. “Thank you, Lord, for not saying ‘no’ or ‘wait awhile’ this time.”
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