Free Christmas Gift for Rose (9780310336822) by Zondervan Publishing House Page B

for her. As far as she was concerned, there was no gain in what she faced.
    The chapter started with Clara’s grandmother showing Heidi her pretty dolls and how to make dresses and pinafores for them, so that Heidi learned to sew. Grandmother also enjoyed Heidi’s reading, but something was missing for Heidi. Someone.
    “She entered into the lives of all the people she read about so that they became like dear friends to her, and it delighted her more and more to be with them,” Rose read. “But still Heidi never looked really happy, and her bright eyes were no longer to be seen. It was the last week of Grandmother’s visit. She called Heidi to her room as usual one day after dinner, and the child came with her book under her arm. The grandmother called her to come close, and then laying the book aside, said, ‘Now, child, tell me why you are not happy? Have you still the same trouble at heart?’”
    The room was silent as Rose read. Every eye was fixedon her and the only sound was the soft breaths of children and the occasional shuffling on one of the long benches as two boys settled in. Lucy’s eyes bore into her, and Rose dared to glance over at her young friend between sentences. Lucy’s worried eyes asked the same question Grandmother had just asked Heidi:
“Have you still the same trouble at heart?”
    “Heidi nodded in reply,” Rose read on, her eyes fixed on the page.
    “‘Have you told God about it?’”
    “‘Yes.’”
    “‘And do you pray every day that He will make things right and that you may be happy again?’”
    “‘No, I have left off praying.’”
    “‘Do not tell me that, Heidi! Why have you left off praying?’”
    “‘It is of no use, God does not listen,’ Heidi went on in an agitated voice, ‘and I can understand that when there are so many, many people in Frankfurt praying to Him every evening that He cannot attend to them all, and He certainly had not heard what I said to Him.’”
    “‘And why are you so sure of that, Heidi?’”
    “‘Because I have prayed for the same thing every day for weeks, and yet God has not done what I asked.’”
    “‘You are wrong, Heidi; you must not think of Him like that. God is a good father to us all, and knows better than we do what is good for us. If we ask Him for something that is not good for us, He does not give it, but something better still, if only we will continue to pray earnestly and donot run away and lose our trust in Him. God did not think what you have been praying for was good for you just now, but be sure He heard you, for He can hear and see everyone at the same time, because He is a God and not a human being like you and me. And because He thought it was better for you not to have at once what you wanted, He said to Himself: Yes, Heidi shall have what she asks for, but not until the right time comes, so that she may be quite happy. If I do what she wants now, and then one day she sees that it would have been better for her not to have had her own way, she will cry and say, “If only God had not given me what I asked for! It is not so good as I expected!” And while God is watching over you, and looking to see if you will trust Him and go on praying to Him every day, and turn to Him for everything you want, you run away and leave off saying your prayers, and forget all about Him …’”
    Rose continued on, and the children listened intently. Finally, after another ten minutes of reading, she closed the book and considered poor Heidi in a way she never had before.
    How many times had Rose read this same passage? Dozens. But it had never pained her heart as it did now. The words pierced her, as if each letter was a small knife. She’d always agreed with Grandmother before. She had always inwardly cheered at her monologue. But this time Rose was pained at Grandmother for not understanding.
    It was a hard chapter to read, and more than once she’d had to pause and wipe away a stray tear. Her sister Louisa,on the