1880 



GLEANINGS IN 13EE CULTURE. 



241 



Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that 

 there may be meat in mine house, and prove me 

 now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not 

 open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out 

 a blessing-, that there shall not he room enough to ie- 

 c in it.— Mal., iii. 10. 



A word from our suffering sister, Mrs. G. 

 13., and her husband may not he amiss. 



Dear Sir. : -The hives ciirac :ill right. They are 

 just what I want. Thanks for the hives. I consider 

 it a great favor. My wife is getting well and I feel 

 thankful to God for his great mercy to us. G. B. 



The following little postscript was ap- 

 pended to the letter, after her husband had 

 written, and without his knowledge as I 

 infer. 



Dear Friend:— I don"t think I will ever be well, but 

 I try to encourage my husband all I can. He little 

 knows all I suffer; but I feel very thankful to our 

 heavenly Father, that I am a little better. From 

 your ever grateful friend,— H. N. B. 



Perhaps more than one wife knows what 

 it is to bear pain uncomplainingly for her 

 husband's sake, and for the sake of the dear 

 ones about her, or, in other words, for 

 Christ's sake. Keep up your courage, dear 

 sister, and do not doubt ; God will certainly 

 give the needed grace to bear your great suf- 

 ferings, if he does not remove them. .Many 

 hearts are beating for you, and many are 

 praying for your relief. Head : 



Dear Brother:— You don't know how my heart 

 went out toward G. B., when I opened Gleanings, 

 and read the first two letters; for my wife was in 

 the same state once. 1 trusted that the Lord would 

 cure her, and in answer to my prayer God sent here 

 to live a doctor who had had the care of the insane 

 at the asylum. Some may say it happened so; but I 

 look at it as an answer to my prayer, for he came 

 two weeks before anyone here expected him. He 

 got his business fixed up so he could leave sooner 

 than he expected. Our Father's hand was in it all. 



Pleasant Hill, Mo., Mar. 12, '80. G. M. Kellogg. 



The following is closely connected with 

 the same subject, and coming, as it does, 

 from one of our most successful bee-women, 

 I think it will be read with interest by you 

 all. If I mistake not, it will help more than 

 one suffering sister, and perhaps brother 

 too. The letter was written to Mrs. G. 13., 

 but I obtained permission to use it for pub- 

 lication. 



Dear Sister:— Having read your letter and that of 

 your husband in Gleanings, my heart felt drawn 

 out in sympathy for you, as I have been an invalid 

 for many (about 25) years. Years ago, I, too, suf- 

 fered most terribly with pain in my head, caused by 

 other sickness, and the wrong use of medicine by 

 mistake. 1 have found freedom from care the best 

 medicine, and Jesus the greatest physician. As I 

 look back over my long life of sickness, I can plain- 

 ly see that all these afflictions have been for my 

 good, and the good of my dear friends. I now firm- 

 ly believe that "All things work together for good to 

 those who love God." 



Dear Sister in Jesus, let me, one who has suffered 

 much, but is now in comfortable health, though 

 still an invalid, point you to a sure cure. In the 

 first place, cast all your care upon Jesus, for he 

 surely cares for you more thau your dear husband 

 even. 1 think your greatest trouble is that you are 



trying too much to carry your own burden. When 

 you lay your burden once upon Jesus, leave it there. 

 You are not required to shed many tears; I don't 

 know that the Bible requires us to weep at all. In 

 your condition, all God requires is that you will, like 

 a tired child, lean upon the bosom of Jesus. Tell 

 him you want to rest awhile there. Leave there all 

 your burdens, and amuse yourself with something 

 as the tired child would be amused. Just leave that 

 head ache with him; don't try to make long prayers. 

 I have been, for months at a time, so that I could 

 hold my mind in prayer only just long enough to ut- 

 ter a sentence or two at a time. Remember Jesus 

 knows all this, jwt as uell at, you ca)i tell him. Every 

 time you can think of him, try to look up into his 

 loving face, and tell him to hold you in his powerful 

 arms, as you feel that you would fly away from him; 

 at least that is the way I used to feel, but I have 

 been at rest for years; and you will gradually come 

 into that rest, if you will thus come to Jesus, and, as 

 Brother Hoot says, go among Christian people and 

 unite yourself with some Christian church. Do not 

 fear you will become a stumbling block so long as 

 you have a desire to love and obey God. We only 

 become stumbling blocks when we cease to fetl 

 anxious to do what is pleasing to him. 



Your suffering body has much to do with your 

 mental condition. I found there were no medicines 

 like outdoor air; it would almost always soothe my 

 troubled brain to go out of doors, and sit or lie in 

 the bright sunshine, having my head shaded with a 

 hat. Listen to the birds and bees, look up into the 

 clear blue sky, and try to feel that God who made 

 all you can see is your own dear Father. Don't look 

 back over the past, for Jesus has paid it all, and if 

 you will only believe it, you are a child of that lov- 

 ing Father, a joint heir with Christ. Is not this 

 enough to make you happy, deep down in the depth 

 of your soul? 



If you are poor in this world's goods, it cannot 

 hurt you; Jesus was so poor he had not where to 

 lay his head. But you belong to God, and all things 

 in Heaven and earth belong to him, and he will not 

 see you want any needful thing. 



I lind there is nothing like outdoor exercise for 

 the over active brain. By degrees, I began to live 

 out of doors, first for health's sake; then I began to 

 care for our few colonies of bees, and continued to 

 care for them, and live with them, until they in- 

 creased to 300, and I could be on my feet several 

 hours in a day, and head ache was all gone, and 

 nerves were quiet and very much strengthened. In 

 winter, however, my lungs trouble me so that I can- 

 not be out of doors much, and other weaknesses 

 confine me to my bed; but my trust is in Jesus, and 

 my heart and mind are at rest. I believe you, too, 

 will lind quietness and rest and health if you will 

 thus put your trust in him, and live out of doors. 

 Even the sunshine coming in through the window 

 makes our pbints thrive; so it will also make us 

 thrive. In some health institutes patients are re- 

 quired to take sun-baths by exposing themselves, 

 clad only in one thin wrapper, to the bright rays of 

 the sun for hours at a time. I have found these 

 baths to be more beneficial than medicine. Also 

 riding is very good; the blue sky is above you, and 

 the eye rests every where on the verdure of nature, 

 which is soothing and quieting to the brain. 



Dear afflicted sister, if I have said anything out 

 of the way, please forgive me, as my only desire is 



