I HAVE lately been reading a sketch of one who finished her work early
and went to rest. To those left behind still toiling in the field it
seemed that her work was broken off and left unfinished, but He who
called her to the service, and afterwards called her home, knew when to
say "it is finished"; nothing can be half-done that is done according
to His command.
Of "Nina's" childhood we are told of her "golden hair, fair cheek
and graceful form; of her quick, laughing eye, of her sensitive
face reflecting every changing thought--her ready answers to all
Sabbath-school questions, and her sunshiny presence at school and at
home."
"Her scholarship was bright, quick and accurate.
"In social life few shone more brilliantly, or were more admired and
sought after.
"Her beauty was of a rare and noticeable type, her conversational
powers were fascinating, and she early developed rare powers of mind."
Her beauty, intelligence and social powers were early consecrated to
the Master's service. We are told that "when a little child, from eight
to twelve years old, she and some of her companions formed a praying
circle and had a little room in one of their homes which they called
the house of prayer. They met often in this room which they delighted
to decorate after their childish fashion."
I can imagine the little girls bringing from the old-fashioned gardens
bunches of flowers, snowballs, peonies, honeysuckles and sweet-smelling
pinks and roses, or bringing from the woods evergreens and trailing
vines to garland this bower where they met to hold sweet childish
communion with their Saviour.
"Another favorite occupation was teaching some poor children whom she
and her companions gathered for lessons in sewing and reading."
I cannot tell you all the sweet story of this beautiful life, only a
bit here and there. When she was eleven years old she was asked by her
pastor how long she had loved Jesus, and she replied, "Oh! a great many
years."
There was nothing unchildlike in her ways. She is said to have been
a peculiarly bright, active and happy child, growing to womanhood the
delight of her home and tenderly shielded from rude contact with the
world. But this noble woman, "so eminently fitted for usefulness in
circles of refinement," was called to spend her life among the degraded
Indians of the Northwest. There were those who thought it a great
wrong that such a beautiful and accomplished girl upon whose education
so much pains and money had been expended, should be given to the
Missionary work among the coarse, ignorant Indians. They thought that
some one less fit for the adornment of social life could do the work
as well. But both she and her parents felt that the best was not too
precious to be given to the Lord to be used wherever he directed. And
this is a thought that I would like you to stop over. Let us give our
best of everything to the Lord. And when we have given it let us be
willing that He should do with it as he sees fit. Sometimes we think we
are ready to give our best, but we would like to dictate as to where or
how it shall be used. Let us see to it that it is a complete surrender.
If you will look upon the map and trace the course of the Missouri
River you will come to a place marked Fort Sully, near the centre of
Dakota. To this far-away region as the wife of an Indian Missionary,
who was himself the son of a pioneer in Indian Missions, Nina Foster
went to make her home in a log cabin, shutting away from the busy
world her beauty and her talents, giving her young life to the cause
of Indian Missions. She gave herself to the work joyfully. We are told
that her "sense of humor and keen wit lightened many a load for herself
and others; the more forlorn and hopeless the situation, the more
elastic her spirits." She always made the best of everything. Even when
the road was so rough and the riding so insecure that she had to be
strapped in to keep from falling out of the wagon she made merry over
the circumstance instead of detailing it as a hardship. For five years
she labored among the Dakota Indian women, who speak of her as the
"beautiful woman who spoke so well." Then God called her to himself.
Was this life, with its beauty and its talents, wasted? We cannot think
so; we know not why God called her to bury herself for a few years
in that remote region, and then, just when the work seemed opening
before her, why he should call her away. Perhaps he wanted to show to a
doubting world that the cause of Missions was so important that for its
advancement he would use the very one whom the world looked upon as too
good for the work. Perhaps he wanted to prove to some doubter the power
of that love that would draw such an one as Nina Foster Riggs away from
the admiring and flattering circle in which she moved and lead her to
give herself to a life of self-sacrifice.
It may be that he wanted to put a bright gem in the midst of the
darkness of ignorance and heathenism, that its shining might
"enlighten, captivate, lead forth and refine."
For us, we may learn that our best, our very best, even _ourselves_, is
the gift we are called upon to give. Shall we consecrate whatever we
have, whatever we are, to the service of our Lord--_now_?