William Allen Bixler

“ Sometimes when the sun rises in the morning, it looks very close, but it is really far away—away off in the sky. When the sun goes down in the evening, darkness [Pg 24] comes all around us. This is called night.
We do not want all daytime, in which to work and play; neither do we want all nighttime, in which to sleep; but we enjoy both the day and the night as God made them.
Also, we see the moon and the stars. When the moon is full and round, how large and pretty it looks! God made the moon and stars to shine at night. ”

“ WHEN the Garden of Eden was planted with all the beautiful flowers and trees, God gave it to Adam for a home. He told him to take good care of it. Adam was glad to work in the garden and use it as he chose; but he had no one to enjoy the things that he enjoyed, no one to help him to be just what God wished him to be, no one to love.
[Pg 21] God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone: I will make him an help meet for him.” So he made a woman and Adam called her Eve.
Eve was very much like Adam in some ways, yet unlike him in other ways. Man has some gifts that woman does not have ”

“ If a man should be going some place through the deep snow and should get lost and the cold should freeze him, it would kill him. He would not live any longer, but would be dead.
If we love God and live for him, he will give us a home in heaven after we die; but if we are wicked, we shall be lost and punished for our wicked ways after we die. ”

“ His mama missed her boy and hunted everywhere for him. Night came on, but she did not give up her search. She hunted and called, but no answer came. She feared the wild beasts would get him, but prayed to God to protect her child. She hunted all night and in the morning found him safe and still asleep.
The best friend we have on earth is a good mother. She thinks of her children at all times. She loves them and lives for them. She seems to know all about our little cares and trials. When we are willing to help her, it shows that we think of her and love her, too. ”

“ When we do things that God says we should not do, we sin. So Adam and Eve sinned, and were ashamed to see God, and when he came [Pg 22] into the garden, they hid among the trees.
Our Heavenly Home
GOD loves men too well to leave them in sin and sorrow. And though we have sinned, he will forgive us if we are sorry for our sins and ask his pardon. He will give us good thoughts, and help us to love him and to love one another.
We shall all die, but we shall live again; and if we serve God in this life and are Christians, we shall live with him in heaven. ”

“ A MOTHER LIVES FOR HER CHILDREN
Mother is watching after her little ones all the day long, and when she puts her hand upon our heads at night as we bow at her knee in prayer, she seems to say, “God bless and keep my darling child.” When she tucks the covers tight about us and sits by our bedside, we think that Mama is the best friend we have. ”

“ God can help you sow good seed. He will help you to be good. He will help you to love all around you.
Flowers of Springtime
HOW pretty and sweet are the apple, peach, pear, plum, cherry, and orange blossoms! How good God was to make all these things for us to see and smell! We can enjoy the blossoms. Also, we can see the little apples or other fruit grow until they become large, juicy, ripe fruit. Then we can eat them, and oh, how good they will taste! God is very good to us.
[Pg 37]
Not a leaf nor a blade of grass could grow if God’s hand did not care for it. ”

“ AMONG the stories that Jesus told was the parable of the leaven.
A woman put leaven in the flour as a baker puts yeast in his bread dough. The leaven kept working until it affected all the dough and made it rise and become light.
As the yeast or leaven goes through all the dough, so the gospel of Jesus will go to all the nations in the world.
Each one who believes on Jesus enters the [Pg 72] kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy, which we get when we become Christians.
Laborers in the Vineyard
JESUS told another parable, a story of the laborers in the vineyard. ”

“ They can not read as we do, but they read by feeling with the ends of their fingers. There are books with raised letters or dots on the pages for the blind, and by feeling the shape of them they can read. ”

“ He causes the warm sun to shine and the gentle rains to fall so that everything can grow. Things could not grow without the warm sun and the rain.
God has caused the wild flowers to grow along the road-side and in the woods and meadows so we can enjoy them. How glad we should be that we have such a good God [Pg 38] to worship! When we kneel to pray, we can say, “O Lord, I thank thee for all the pretty things I see each day.” The pretty things are some of the blessings that he daily gives us. ”

“ Have you ever thought how she toils and cares for you? She works for you every day—gets your meals, breakfast, dinner, and supper; washes and mends your clothes and stockings; and at night makes your pillow nice and soft for you so you can sleep well. ”

“ When winter-time comes, it gets cold, and the ground is all covered with pure-white crystals of snow. Everything looks so clean and pretty with its white coat on. We see the little snowbirds flying around, and they are so happy picking up seeds for food. ”

“ Moments of Prayer
HOW good it is that all can pray! The Lord is always waiting to hear and answer our prayers. When we pray, we talk with God; we must listen closely when he talks to us and do whatever he says. ”

“ To tell a lie is to say things that are not [Pg 123] true, and to steal is to take something that belongs to some one else.
Now, it is very wrong to swear, lie, or steal. God does not want us to do any such things. All who do wicked things will some day be punished. ”

“ Just so Jesus came to save us. We were [Pg 95] lost because we all have sinned and disobeyed God, but we can be saved from our sins if we ask Jesus to forgive us. He will forgive our sins and will not hold them against us any more.
When our sins are forgiven, we are Christians, and Jesus will help us to live right from that time on.
GOING UP TO HEAVEN
We shall not have a desire to do the bad things which so many boys and girls do, but we shall want to live right and be good.
He can keep us from sin every day and hour if we trust him. So Jesus is our Savior. ”

“ When the king heard about this, he did not like it, and he punished the hard-hearted man.
We are like the man in the picture. We ask God to be good to us and forgive us when we do wrong. Then, maybe, we are not good to our little friends when they do wrong to us. ”

“ Jesus loves the cripples too.
Country Children
CHILDREN love to play on the bridge over the creek, or sit down in the tall grass on the banks and pick wild flowers.
Sometimes the dog swims in the water after a stick and brings it ashore. Dogs can swim in the water; but if the children should get into deep water, they could not get out, and would drown if some one did not come to help them out.
There are many, many children living in the cities who do not have the chance to play in the green grass or pick wild flowers like [Pg 111] the children who live in the country. ”

“ He had great power to heal all kinds of [Pg 103] sickness, and in several places in the Bible we read that “he healed all the sick” that came to him.
TAKING FLOWERS TO A SICK FRIEND
He can heal us now if we trust him and [Pg 104] ask for his healing power. Jesus can do all things.
He can do many things for us if we live true to him, and ask him for the things that we need as we would ask mama for a piece of bread or cake. Jesus never fails to supply our needs if we are his true children and live for him. Let us have faith in God.
Do a Kindness
“Do a kindness, do it well ”

“ The birds also seem to be glad for the rain. They chirp among the trees when the shower is over.
We see the pretty clouds in the sky. The wind moves them about. Sometimes a storm comes, and then we see the lightning and hear the thunder. ”

“ But they are tame and stay where people do. They do not fly like the little birds, but they stay around the barnyard and lay eggs for us to eat.
Ducks and geese love to swim in the water. Both the big and the little ones can swim, but chickens can not.
The old mother hen sometimes has many little chicks running around her. They stay pretty close, because they are afraid that something might harm them.
Chicks are sometimes caught by hawks, which fly around watching for them. In the picture we see a dog driving a hawk away from the old hen and chickens. Don’t you think he is a good dog? ”

“ If they do a bad thing to us, we want to pay them back. We should not do this way. Jesus said that if we would not forgive others, God would not forgive [Pg 82] us. To forgive our friends means to be just as good to them when they do wrong to us as when they do good to us.
Jesus Loves the Children
AT ONE time when Jesus was teaching the people, some women brought their children to him for a blessing. The disciples thought the women should not do this, and [Pg 83] thought Jesus did not wish to be bothered with the children. ”

“ A SHEPHERD is a man who takes care of sheep. During the day he watches them while they are eating grass, and in the evening he takes them to their fold or barn.
Now, we read in the Bible that an angel of the Lord appeared to some shepherds in the night. ”

“ Let us be careful that our words and deeds do not make ourselves or others [Pg 58] unhappy. If we live to please God, we shall please God’s people, and we shall not have to feel sorry on account of some bad words said or deeds done. ”

“ WHEN the frosts have colored the leaves of the trees of the woods with many hues, and the nuts have ripened and fallen to the ground, it is then that the squirrels gather a good supply of the different kinds of nuts and acorns into their little homes in the hollow trees, to be eaten during the many long days of winter. ”

“ FLOWERS FOR MOTHER
The Blind Girl
BLIND persons can not see anything. They can not tell what any person looks like. They can not see the sun, moon, trees, birds, flowers, or any of the pretty things that we see. ”

“ From time to time God had sent good prophets to warn [Pg 76] the Jews, but often the prophets were persecuted.
At last God sent Jesus, his only Son, and him they killed.
The Wheat and the Tares
CHRIST told another parable. It was of a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while the servants slept, an enemy came and sowed tares, or weeds, and then [Pg 77] went away so that the servants knew nothing of it.
When the wheat grew, the tares also grew. When the servants noticed the tares, they asked the owner what it meant, as they sowed only good seed. ”

“ The dogs are useful to guard our homes, and cats catch mice and rats. Both dogs and cats make good pets.
Sheep have long wool all over their bodies, and men cut it off and use it to make clothes to keep us warm. ”

“ He fed them bread; but as the little birds were not used to that kind of food, they did not thrive on it; and when one day the boy forgot to feed them, they died. How [Pg 43] sad he felt! And how sad the mother bird must have felt when she could not find her babies!
God made the birds to enjoy the woods and fields. We must not destroy their nests, for that would be wrong.
The Bible says, “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.”
[Pg 44]
A Bird of the Night
DID you ever see an owl? ”

“ Then we love to get on our mittens and warm coats, and go out in the snow, too. People hitch horses to sleighs and enjoy rides. They put bells on the horses, and these jingle merrily when the horses go fast. ”

“ Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling-clothes, lying in a manger.”
THE ANGEL’S APPEARANCE
“And suddenly there was with the angel [Pg 62] a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
The babe’s name was Jesus, who came as a Savior to all the world.
Jesus As a Child
GOD, who is in heaven, was full of pity for the unhappy people of earth. ”

“ This is the bird’s house. We sometimes see tiny eggs in the nest. The little eggs hatch, and then there are little birdies in the nest in place of the eggs. The mother bird hunts worms and bugs to feed the little ones. ”

“ It is delightful to go through the woods [Pg 39] where you can see the beautiful trees. You can nearly always find some flowers growing along the edge of the brook. Besides, the little birds fly among the trees and sing so sweetly. ”

“ He wanted to see how the beans were growing. He found that all of them had come up—even those that the boy had spilled and had not picked up. The boy did not need to tell his papa then what he had done. For his papa knew it all.
So it is with some bad things you may have done. You may think that no one will ever know of them. But the secret will come out some time. Even if no person should ever find it out, God sees all you do. You can not hide anything from him.
[Pg 117]
Be Kind to the Aged
ONE fine spring day six children went to the woods to gather wild flowers. ”