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Eddie's Faith by Abby Philip's Walker.
The day before Christmas, Eddie Fenton had

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worked hard doing errands for the grocer
near where he lived. He was now

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hurrying home late in the afternoon to
tell his mother that he had earned fifty

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cents, which seemed a great deal
of money to him, and he also

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had an orange to give her,
for his mother was sick. When he

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went into the room, he found
his mother crying, but she dried her

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eyes and smiled when she saw Eddie. The fire was out and there was

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no more fuel, and Eddie thought
she was crying about that, And because

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she was sick, he ran to
the store for a bag of coal and

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soon had a fire burning. Then
he fixed the orange for his mother and

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said, do not cry any more, mother. We have a nice fire

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now, and you read to me
from the Bible that the prayer of faith

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shall save the sick, and the
Lord shall raise him up, and he

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will take care of you. I
am sure as he promised to do.

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I am not thinking about myself,
said his mother. But tomorrow is Christmas

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and there will be no Christmas dinner
for you and no presents, And the

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tears rolled down her cheeks. Again, do not cry, mother, said

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Eddie. I will read to you
from the Bible that always makes you feel

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happy. What shall I read,
he asked, Whatever you open to first?

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His mother replied. Eddie opened to
a chapter in Matthew, and after

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reading a while, he came to
this verse, and all things, whatsoever

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ye shall ask in prayer, believing
ye shall receive. Eddie stopped reading.

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Why, mother, he said,
we need not worry about Christmas. We

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believe in prayer. Why can't we
pray? This verse tells us that we

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shall receive if we ask. His
mother did not answer at once. Then

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she said, yes, yes,
we can pray. I'll pray now,

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said Eddie, kneeling by the bed. Dear Jesus, he began, please

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look down on my mother and me
and help us to have a merry Christmas.

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Please make mother well and send us
a turkey all cooked, if you

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can, we would be very thankful. You have so many to look out

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for. I will not ask for
any more. I thank you for telling

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me how to get the things we
need, and I have faith that you

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will send them. Amen. Now
do not worry any more, he said,

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getting up and smiling at his mother, who seemed already to be better,

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and a little child showed them.
His mother repeated very softly. The

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sun threw a last ray of light
into the room just as it sank out

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of sight, and she felt that
her faith had been strengthened. The next

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morning, when Eddie awoke, the
sun was shining. He jumped out of

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bed and called, Merry Christmas.
Mother. I will get you some breakfast,

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and then I'll run to the grocery
store and see if I can do

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some errands. His mother looked at
him anxiously, for there were no Christmas

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presents, and she feared that his
faith would weaken. But Eddie smiled and

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said, by the time I return, we will have a turkey dinner.

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I am sure. Merry Christmas,
called some one in the hall, and

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when he opened the door, there
stood the prettiest lady Eddie had ever seen.

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Her arms were filled with holly and
wreaths, and with her was a

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gentleman with a huge basket. Does
missus Fenton live here, she inquired.

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It was one of the ladies for
whom Eddie's mother worked when she was well,

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and she had brought them a Christmas
dinner and stockings and a cap for

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Eddie a nice warm coat and hood
for his mother, and best of all,

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she sent for a doctor to make
his mother well. This turkey is

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cooked, said the lady, taking
the things from the basket. Eddie can

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put it in the oven while the
vegetables are cooking, and it will be

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ready to eat. Then she put
a wreath on each window, and some

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holly over the door, and there
will be some coal here to day,

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she said, as she went out. When Eddie and his mother were alone,

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he said, you see, mother, we did just write. All

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Jesus was waiting for was to have
us ask him. I think you are

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right, said his mother, and
now we should thank him. I think

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so too, said Eddie, as
he knelt by her bed again. End

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of Eddie's Faith by Abby Philip's Walker