June, ivib
E V EK Y BUD Y '« BK1EN D
3
BEYOND TODAY
If we could see beyond today
As God can see;
If all the clouds could roll away,
The shadows flee,
O’er present griefs we would not fret,
Each sorrow we would soon forget,
For many joys are wailing yet
For you and me. —Sei.
The Reward
The saying of a generous giver that, he and
Ins family wanted to have a share in the i eward
ol saving li e homeless children, h< s suggested a
number of thoughts on the subject of rewards.
There is a reward which follows the saving of
neglected children. No one knows this better
thin those who have put much time and tare
and labor to this work. In that Great day there
will be a reward for every good deed done with
a pure motive. No good deed comes nearer fill-
ing in every respect the condition of those to
whom the Great Judge will say: “In as much
as ye have done it unto one of the least of these
my bretlneo, ye have done it unto me,’’and will
bid them on* er into the kingdom prepared for
them from the foundation of li e world.
However, it is not necessary to wait until that
fur off diy for all the reward for kindness shown
to homeless children, as much of it can be had
here and now. The consciousness of having
done a kind ami unselfish deed brings with it
its own reward, for it is a j »y to know that God
is approving and blessing what we do-that he
“establishes the work of our binds,” as the
Psalmist expresses it. It is a jay to know that
our “labor is not in vain,” but that we are really
getting something accomplished, something
that will count in time, and not evanish in eter-
nity.
There is a satisfaefon in actually seeing the
fruit of our labor: to go into an orderly, well
conducted home, and see a child that has once
been forsaken and homeless, but is now well
established in the home, a valued member of
the fimily, thriving, h ippy aid contented,—this
is indeed gratifying. When it is seen that the
child is loved, and its interests and happiness
is ever considered* and no effort is spared to
give this child a home that will develop it into a
useful member of society, it leaves little to be
w ished.
When to all this is added the possitive assu-
rance that this child’s coming into the home
has brought j >y and sunshine, such as they had
never known before, and which nothing else
could have afforded them, it gives a feeling that
in itself is a reward for all it may have cost,
and for every sacrifice it required.
There is still another phase to the reward
the work of providing homes for the homeless
gives, and that is, watching these children de-
velop. To see a child that, but for the kindly
care of a home which has been provided for it,
would have had no opportunity of ever ac-
complishing any thing in life, now growing
up into an eager, bright, well behaved boy or
girl, and to look forward and anticipate what
such a child may accomplish in life, is a j >y that
carries with it a desire to live long for the pur-
pose of seeing what-the future of these children
may be.
The love of some foster parents is so strong
and true that they are anxious to give the child
every opportunity and encouragim mt to obtain
the education to lit it for whatever pursuit or
occupation it may choose to follow. This gives
the child a splendid privilege to make the most
of its talents, an advantage many children who
have parents of their own do not enjoy. It is
a pleasure to watch the future of children who
grow up under such favorable conditions.
These rewards do not belong only to those
who devote their time and labor to the pros-
ecution of the work, but all who wish can
have a share in them. AH those on whose hearts
the burden of this work rests, and who help to
bear it with their prayers and with their means,
can have a share in this reward.
To be instrumental in finding a neglected and
homeless child, and placing it in a family where
it can develop into a man or woman who would
become a blessing Io the race, would be a great
piivilego, a reward that would repay every sac
rifice and every labor. . This is a possibility
which opt ns out before all who help to save the
neglected children.