Show kathleen norris says moving into paradise bell Ires tures J V the atmosphere 01 0 the household changed hallie spas uku a smiling beloved again asam by KATHLEEN NORRIS F YOU knew of a country I 1 IF without move there care would you if beyond the ocean borders or far south toward the pole there was an ideal land of eternal spring a land whose people were simple and goods good a land without money worries without the nagging tears fears and disappointments that make up our daily lives here without hate an and dwar war how busily and with what energy and determination thousands of war weary and worry weary families would plan to move t there herel any sacrifice would be worth while any effort made easy by luch a hope for or ourselves and our children for for ufa life on terms has grown too hard and too complicated and in a sense too hopeless for or many of us to face with courage mankind his has been busy for years creating crea tink all the evils from which civilization ought to rescue us ruin hate despair tear feir hun huni i ger disease debt now when optimistic ti voices tell us glibly how bow we shall overcome these evils we feel a deep discouragement overcome Over coma them why they never should have bavel existed atallo at all well there Is that ideal country a nd lt it 19 Is close to us all but very few w women am find it when they do when they live in that placid sunshiny climate loving life its as beloved and happy children do liking to wake in the morning welcoming the restfulness of sleep at night we look at them with envy they live in reace peace these women are rare some of them are homely and poor and grizzled with years most of them have faces that show signs of past crises agonies sacrifices despairs but these things only show enough to make brighter the peace and beauty of their present lives hallie foster Is one such woman I 1 know ive never seen her I 1 perhaps never will but she writes me a letter that tells tella the old story the story of a soul harassed with tears fears of a body troubled with aches and pains of a situation so complicated by mistakes and faults that there seemed to be beno no way out of it hallia wrote me from omaha neb some four years ago she mid had then been divorced tor for some years and was living with a second husband and two stepchildren step children all of whom made ufa extremely difficult for her she had been so anxious to divorce van and marry bruce that she ceded to van the custody of her own child a boy her baby by druce bruce died at birth she said because of the nervous condition into which the unmanageable step chil dren and disappointing husband had thrown her she had backaches headaches 6 sleepless nights she wrote me that she had long lost every vestige of charm every scrap of attraction tor for bruce who Is wasting hla his money on other women already prayer was answered meanwhile her own boy went into a long and dangerous aness iness the scourge of infantile tili paralysis seized him and he be needed actual years of kenderest ten derest care sick over ever a alk two stepchildren step ite children PRAYER CONQUERS ALL sometimes there seems to be no way out of difficulties unhappy marriages sickness poverty loss of loved ones press down on many women until tho the burden feels unbearable there is only one way out i after divorcing her first husband hallie married again ogain acquiring two wo step chil dren at the same time her own son contracted infantile anole paralysis and required constant care another baby died at birth then her husband began to spend his money on other women hallies halides Ha lites misery mise ry bowed her to the earth then she turned in desperation to prayer she cast her burden upon the lord slowly she regained peace andres and resignation worked jealous nervous what had h 11 d hallie to spare for him she saw sa w him only at long intervals and hla his baby loyalty and devotion went to his grandmother and aunts what Wha hallie did you can do it to is the cure it Is the open s sesame to the land of peace and plen plenty t Y she in her own words cast her burden upon thi the lord 1 I went on my knees says her second letter which came to me only a few ew days ago and said oh lord I 1 am wrong ive made all the mistakes a woman can make ive done all I 1 could to wreck my life and the lives about me set me right show me the wayll the prayer was answered of course that braier prayer always is not by any sudden miracle but byllie by the slow shifting and changing of lifes colors from dark to light hallie got up from her knees confident and refreshed and began to do the thing nearest her with all her might washing cooking managing the children she did it all humbly waiting for guidance guidance came her aching head cleared she began to sleep deep 1 I felt like wings were under everything all of a sudden she writes if braces children wire cranky id say ilmy in my heart lord you help them I 1 was praying all day long in an my heart well to make a long story short the sick small boy in a wheel chair was presently transferred to his bis mother and financial aid was given lor for his care the small cheerful sufferer had an immense inal influence bence upon the other children thi the atmosphere mo sphere of the household changed hame hallie was a smiling beloved wife again she went on praying no not praying exactly but lifting her heart continually into that clearer purer air that is the realization of god and good she lives in that atmosphere always that la is the one great miracle of life greater than the atomic bomb Is the discovery that shatters thi the hardness of human hearts and wins them this peace that can face change poverty hard work with a confident smile the discovery that the kingdom of heaven Is within you |