“Crisis always reveals character.” Oswald Chambers It feels like God is scrubbing on the stove top of my life. Back and forth, up and down, the steel wool moves. (Your stovetop might only need a spritz of cleaner and a paper towel). Then the steel moves in circles-- scrubbing, ungriming, and creating friction.… [continue]

 Thank Him in advance for what the future holds, for He is already there. --Elizabeth Elliot   "How are we looking this month?" Scott said one Saturday in August (2005) on our way home from my sister's house. "Not… [continue]

"Winola!  Winola!" What a strange name I thought. "WINola! WINOLA!!" And why was the nurse saying her name so loudly? Mom and I were walking from Mamaw's room to Papaw's room at the assisted living home where they had only… [continue]

Some stories of faith are flash-in-the-pan, over-night wonders. Most of them are not.  My Papaw Bell’s story of faith is one that took years and years of plowing fields and walking levees for its full measure of fruit to be borne.   Roger Bell, my grandfather (or “papaw” as we Southerners… [continue]

      O Lord, that lends me life, Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness. William Shakespeare   Several years ago, I was visiting a friend, and we were shopping. My friend Julie, a true wardrobe genius, was trying to help me put a few outfits together after too many years of saying… [continue]

As I looked across the table at my oldest son Max, he put a smile on his red-freckled face. It was Friday evening. I had had the worst day of school on record and wasn't about to cook, so we were on the patio of a Mexican restaurant along the banks of the Sacramento River. I don't remember what… [continue]

    One poor son in our home had been stuck cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms way too long, so we re-assigned chores at our house this month. It would be nice if children came with innate knowledge of proper chore procedure, but they don't. Being the excellent parents that we are, we usually wait… [continue]

      "But I entreat those who believe in ...God, whoever deigns to ...receive this document composed by the obviously unlearned sinner Patrick in Ireland, that nobody shall ever ascribe to my ignorance any trivial thing that I achieved... that was pleasing to God...accept...that it would… [continue]

"…It is a wretched taste to be gratified with mediocrity when the excellent lies before us." --Isaac D'Israeli, 1834 jjjj kkkk llll ;;;; ffff dddd ssss aaaa I'm not that old, but the school I graduated from was so small (and underfinanced) that we learned to type on manual… [continue]

 There’s something about the end that makes one look forward to the beginning-- maybe because the end, even a good end, is often difficult.   As I sat at my desk Friday afternoon, the Friday before Christmas and the last day of the semester, I stared at my computer screen hoping to get all my grades… [continue]

  There’s something about the end that makes one look forward to the beginning-- maybe because the end, even a good end, is often difficult.   As I sat at my desk Friday afternoon, the Friday before Christmas and the last day of the semester, I stared at my computer screen hoping to get all… [continue]

 Thank Him in advance for what the future holds, for He is already there. --Elizabeth Elliot   "How are we looking this month?" Scott said one Saturday in August (2005) on our way home from my sister's house. "Not… [continue]

The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you in power... and you will be changed into a different person." 1 Samuel 10:6   I'm staring out the window of a plane, and still can't believe my eyes. I've done this many times before, but it still seems physically impossible.… [continue]

 The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you in power… and you will be changed into a different person." 1 Samuel 10:6   I'm staring out the window of a plane, and still can't believe my eyes. I've done this many times before, but it still seems physically… [continue]

Thank Him in advance for what the future holds, for He is already there. Elizabeth Elliot   As I banged the cup on the counter, I got a groan. "Mooomm, the cuuup's not fuuull yet." As if I didn't know that, as if that wasn't the whole purpose in… [continue]

Thank Him in advance for what the future holds, for He is already there. Elizabeth Elliot   As I banged the cup on the counter, I got a groan. "Mooomm, the cuuup's not fuuull yet." As if I didn't know that, as if that wasn't the whole purpose in… [continue]

There’s this “thing” I’ve been praying for…for what seems like a million years. But when I stop to count, it’s only been five years. I’ve prayed, written it down, stressed over it, even cried a few times. At times I thought this prayer was on the brink of being answered, and… [continue]

There’s this “thing” I’ve been praying for…for what seems like a million years. But when I stop to count, it’s only been five years. I’ve prayed, written it down, stressed over it, even cried a few times. At times I thought this prayer was on the brink of being answered, and… [continue]

“Pick up the candy and run!” our youngest son Grant screamed at the T.V. “Don’t leave the chocolate. Take the chocolate you stupid idiot!” Though a bit harsh, this was the advice that Grant offered to little Charlie in the movie Charlie and the Chocolate… [continue]

"Great oaks grow from acorns small." "Growth takes time, and every stage of it is part of His sovereign plan." Minette Allmoslecher I'd been working for several days trying to get my new iron skillet seasoned. It was an after Christmas gift from my mom who had listened to me complain for… [continue]

Our children have more right to expect that we shall be model parents than we have to require that they be model children. Rev. John S.C. Abbot in The Mother At Home, 1833 My sister and I are trying to loose weight. We've been at it now for 20 some odd years. You think we would be better at it by now. So,… [continue]

"As your days, so shall your strength be." Deuteronomy 33:25 "It is a wretched taste to be gratified with mediocrity when the excellent lies before us." Issac D'Israeli, 1834   Several years ago, when my sister's in-laws came to California for a visit, the Perrigos… [continue]

By heaven we understand a state of happiness infinite in degree, and endless in duration. Benjamin Franklin   A while back, I was riding in my car and had this instant desire to see Portia Knowles. I don't know why, but I did. Portia is a wonderful girl who was in our high school youth… [continue]

"Just turn your affairs over to the Lord, and go on and do your duty." --Old Union soldier in Stephen Crane's Red Badge of Courage. The Goins family (Dad, Mom, two boys, twin sister and me) lived in a great neighborhood. We had this empty lot beside our house that had to be at least 3 acres. The boys… [continue]

"Whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord." Ephesians 6:8 Have you ever found yourself teaching someone, especially your kids, about God's truths, and all the while you were sweating just a bit? I don't mean you're hot. I mean you are teaching your kids to… [continue]

He will always give you all you need from day to day if you will make the Kingdom of God your primary concern." Luke 12:31, The Living Bible   I couldn't believe I had fallen for it yet again!!! Several years ago, I spent a week at an environmental education program with my… [continue]

"On through the hours the quiet words ring, Like a low inspiration: "Do the next thing!" Old Saxon legend--   The New Year was rapidly approaching (several years ago), so I thought "hey, let's look at my goals for the year, and see how I did."… [continue]

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. John 1:14 NIV   On Wednesday this week, Scott picked me up from school, and we went on one of our mini-dates to Starbucks. Three dollars for a cup of coffee is pretty expensive, but when that's all you're paying for a date, it sounds pretty… [continue]

Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds. William Shakespeare     "God's strategy in a nutshell: He builds into you and me the beauty of his own character and then puts us on display." Joseph Aldrich   Several years ago, the little Mathews brothers and I went to… [continue]

"Aunt Lisee, can I have a gwape?" It was the fifteenth time sweet William, my 3-year-old nephew, had asked the question. "Pweessseee, can I have a gwape?!" And fifteen times I had explained that the grapes weren't real. The red beans and rice we were having for dinner weren't… [continue]

  If you don’t have family that lives in Southern California, I send you my deepest sympathies because there is nothing more relaxing than a day of vacation at the beach when you have free housing (thank you, Uncle Don). And it’s even more relaxing when one’s children are old enough to occupy themselves… [continue]

Last weekend the Mathews family was lying around on the couch having an impromptu family-meeting-bible-reading-prayer-time. These summits don’t happen nearly as often as they ought since our schedule is just as crammed as yours. We were all six slouched and comfortable on the couch—a big tan sectional that has… [continue]

The UK Mail Online called it an “act of skullduggery that cast a shadow over the 1975 [Rugby] World Cup and ended the careers of two men.” From the looks of it, I would call it meanness. The New Zealand Kiwis were playing Wales for the World Cup. A player from New Zealand, John Greengrass, scored, bringing the… [continue]

It’s the one basket in my house I hate. With a passion. Seriously. Most mothers already know the one I’m talking about before I say anything else. This basket keeps company with other baskets that are almost as despised—baskets filled with laundry often unidentifiable as clean or dirty. There is no basket… [continue]

  As Beth shuffled past me at the ice cream shop, she leaned down to mess with her socks.  They were cute socks from what I could see—white with some kind of dark design on them, maybe bows or flowers; I don’t quite remember. But I do remember thinking “cool socks. Why don’t… [continue]

      "Every assignment is measured and controlled for my eternal good." Elizabeth Elliot Fox News hasn't reported it. CNN hasn't reported it. Rush Limbaugh hasn't reported it. But it has happened. A great football dynasty has fallen. A team that remained undefeated… [continue]

The Winning-est Coach     "Every assignment is measured and controlled for my eternal good." Elizabeth Elliot Fox News hasn't reported it. CNN hasn't reported it. Rush Limbaugh hasn't reported it. But it has happened. A great football dynasty has fallen. A team that… [continue]

 I was beginning to get a hair annoyed. My arms were full of music and a CD and speakers that I was trying to unplug from the computer to take into my bedroom. I still had one more song to learn for worship practice and mere minutes left to do it. Of course, I wasn’t dressed to leave the house… [continue]

There’s something about the end that makes one look forward to the beginning-- maybe because the end, even a good end, is often difficult.   As I sat at my desk Friday afternoon, the Friday before Christmas and the last day of the semester, I stared at my computer screen hoping to get all my grades entered… [continue]