Ellie lived with her six children in a small house. One winter, there was a big flood and quite a few houses were washed away, but Ellie's house was high enough to keep them safe.
Many families lost everything in the flood. And Ellie took in one of the families. She shared her home with them until the family could build their own new house. Ellie's friends could not understand why she did so because she already had so many children to look after.
"Well,"Ellie said to her friends, "At the end of World War I, there was a poor woman in a town in Germany. Her husband had been killed in the war and she had a lot of children, just like me now."
"The day before Christmas, this woman said to her children,' We will not be able to have much for Christmas. I am going to get just one present for us all. Now I will go and get it.' She came back with a little girl who had no parents.'Here is our present,' she said to her own children."
"The children were very excited to get such a present. They welcomed the little girl warmly, and she grew up as their sisters. I was that Christmas present."