It was the day before Christmas, and a little lad in a gipsy caravan asked his father what they would have for Christmas dinner. The lad's mother was dead, and the father answered, "I do not know, my dear."
The man's fiddle was hanging on the wall, and he knew that if he took his fiddle to the public house and played the money would soon be found for the Christmas dinner. This he had done in former days; but Cornelius Smith, the father of Gipsy Smith, had not played in saloons from the time he was converted. So he instantly put aside the temptation, fell on his knees, and began to pray. Said he to his children: "I do not know what we shall have for Christmas, but we will sing." The trusting father then began a Gospel song familiar in those days:
In some way or other the Lord will provide:
It may not be my way,
It may not be thy way;
And yet, in His own way,
The Lord will provide.
Then came the chorus:
Then we'll trust in the Lord,
And He will provide;
Yes, we'll trust in the Lord,
And He will provide.
A knock was heard at the door of the van while the family were still singing. There stood the Cambridge town missionary, Mr. Sykes. Said he:
"It is I, Brother Smith. God is good, is he not? I have come to tell you how the Lord will provide. In a shop in this town there are three legs of mutton, and also groceries, waiting for you and your brothers." A wheel borrow was needed to bring home the supplies, and the three brothers (all of whom had become evangelists) never learned who furnished these things for them. But God had provided their Christmas dinners