CHILDREN'S CAUSES FOR THANKFULNESS.
MISS LILLIAN L. GOAR, BLOWING ROCK, N. C.
Dear Friends: I want to tell you of our Junior Thanksgiving service last Wednesday eve. The meeting was led by a Junior. After prayer by one of the members the leader asked of each one: "What have you to be thankful for?" We had so many blessings given that a large blackboard was covered, with reports of the many "thankfulnesses." The following are a few of the many: "For Christ most of all," "the Holy Bible," "health," "warm sunshine," "blue sky," "I don't know of anything I'm not thankful for," "for plenty of everything, bread and fruit and everything to eat," "for forgiveness," "Junior meetings," "to bring wood and water for our mothers and fathers." One of the several four-year-olds in school was thankful for a "stove, love (for) our brothers, to play, eatin' an' things to cook it in."
And this same little boy, who comes from a home anything but attractive, had this sentence in his prayer, "thankful for home." Another dear Junior was thankful for good times and "for my little sister an' father an' mother." "The privilege to go to school" was another cause of thankfulness, while many times, both in prayer and speaking, was "the dear teacher" mentioned.
The prayers were earnest, simple and sincere, and I felt much nearer heaven after the little ones had gone from their childish meeting. And I felt more than ever before the divine presence with us. The Juniors carry their Christian ideas into everything. In school one day I asked "What is the heart for?" And a little girl (a Junior) replied quickly "To let Jesus come in."
As the hoped-for advancement lies with the children, I feel that the work is very encouraging.
To Help Her Own People.—A minister in a Northern State sends to us a check for $500, which he says is the gift of a colored lady of over seventy years of age, to aid in the education of her people in the South. She has $500 more, which she retained for the present in view of emergencies, but which she intends ultimately to give to the Association for the same purpose. The minister says she is intelligent, a diligent reader, and an interesting person to meet. She has been a tailoress and probably has earned most of her money with her needle. Such a person is an honor to her race and to the church of Christ.