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"If interruptions annoy me and private cares make me impatient; if I shadow the souls about me because I myself am shadowed, then I know nothing of Calvary love." Amy Carmichael

I've got another hint for irritated wives this week. (So if you never get irritated with your husband, you can quit reading right now.)

This past winter Scott and I took our boys to the mountains and the snow. Living where we do makes this easy because it's only 70 miles away.

But of course, even though we were only going to be gone six hours, we had 15 errands to do on the way out of…  ( Click for more )

(The marriage series will continue next week. But, in honor of President Reagan, I thought you might like a story about him. The following comes from Peggy Noonan's book "When Character Was King."

'Do you know about his ulcer?' Nancy Reagan asked me. We were talking about his early days in the governship. He came home a few months into his new job, looked at Nancy and said he didn't feel good. He told me, 'I spent thirteen years at Warner Brothers, and they didn't give me an ulcer, but I think I'm getting one now.'

And he was. It was a sharp pain in his stomach that wouldn't…  ( Click for more )

"By such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was tired to death." Judges 16:16

Do you remember back in elementary school how being chased could be a positive thing, or a very negative thing. If the game of choice at recess was freeze tag, then there was something thrilling about trying to stay one step ahead of "it." To not be pursued was total rejection.

On the other hand, when my brother chased me because I had used his shampoo or worn his shirt, that was not a positive experience, but a rather frightening one.

I think the way we treat our husbands can…  ( Click for more )

Small Kindness, Small courtesies, Small considerations, Habitually practiced in our daily lives, give a greater charm to the character than any display of great talents or accomplishments. - M.A. Kelty

Two weeks ago, in the interest of putting a spark in the marriage, I decided to do something sweet for Scott. While I was surfing the web for work, an ad popped up-"Send a song to someone you love." Great idea, I thought. So I went to this website and picked out a musical card to send to Scott. It was Rod Stewart's "Have I told you lately that I love you..." I…  ( Click for more )

My husband Scott and I had an interesting converstion this week. For some odd reason we were discussing my old boyfriends. And as history would have it, there is not much to talk about. (If you've been reading this column for a couple of weeks, the boyfriend in question was the potential husband/crop duster from Arkansas.)

That whole relationship started when I was just a sixth grader. The end of school was approaching, and the next year I would be in Jr. High. All of us important sixth graders were standing on the balcony outside our classroom, looking down on the Sr. High…  ( Click for more )

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel.Proverbs 12:15

The Mathews family went camping this week. Some of us had more fun than others. If you are trying to guess who enjoyed it the most, you are probably wrong. I'm the rugged one in the family, not Scott. And on our sandy vacation, I had a revelation about another hint for irritated wives.

Of course, if I came up with another hint, it goes without saying that I was irritated. It was night number 2. We arrived back at our campsite after dark from a wonderful…  ( Click for more )

If I do not give [my husband] the "benefit of the doubt," But put the worst construction instead of the best on what is said or done, Then I know nothing of Calvary love.-Amy Carmichael

I must admit that my next hint for less-than-cheerful wives was definitely a conclusion that took me more than a few weeks to reach. But, here goes. Hint # 2 for irritated wives is this: Lighten Up! Since when did you become perfect?

Scott and I were working at a church camp the first time I got a clue that I might not be perfect. It was before we got married, and Scott asked me the question:…  ( Click for more )

"The mind is its own place,and in itself can make a Heaven of Hell,and a Hell of Heaven."John Milton

My first hint for irritated wives seems like it would be too clearly visible even to mention. But it's surprising how quickly you might have forgotten the obvious -- you chose your husband. Now, I know that there are places in the world where marriages are still arranged. But come on, in most cultures, a woman has the freedom to choose whomever she wishes as a husband. She can say "yes" or "no" to whatever proposals she receives.

I know it would surprise most…  ( Click for more )

"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a Heaven of Hell, and a Hell of Heaven." John Milton

"What have I gotten myself into?"

I have only asked myself that question once in my marriage of 16 years. We had just arrived home to our single-wide trailer from a two week honeymoon in Washington, D.C. (That is another story in itself.) The house was piled high with boxes to unpack and clothes to put away. It was Saturday, and being the bad-I mean good-preacher that Scott was, he immediately sat down to write his sermon for a congregation of 12 in Heplar, KS-- while…  ( Click for more )

"Let the wife make the husband glad to come home,and let him make her sorry to see him leave.--Martin Luther

I have four great boys. And being the wise woman that I am, I am training them to adore me. They have a mantra that I require of them at least once a day:

"I love my Mother very much. She is my favorite Mother In the whole, wide world. I cannot live without her."

You might think that I'm kidding. But I'm not. I love to hear it. They can never say it too many times. And when they hug me close, and say that to me, I'm liable to give them whatever…  ( Click for more )

Another Easter Story: You might check out this web page before you read the story: http://www.manalang.com/philippines/manila/ may_we_never_forget.html

Six miles outside of Manilla lies the peaceful but vast Manila American Cemetery. It is 152 acres of gently rising ground set aside to memorialize the military dead who served America during World War II in the Southwest Pacific Theatre. My husband Scott got to visit it several years ago on a missions trip.

The cemetery is laid out like a never ending circle---17,206 Italian marble crosses inscribed with names of the…  ( Click for more )

(An Easter Story)

He hadn't expected to be doing this already. No one expects to be burying his wife at 29 years old. But here was Kent, driving to Topeka to get a burial certificate.

Kent's wife Joy had just delivered her third boy in April of 1998. In December of that year, Joy Nowlin was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer. By January 2000, barely a year later, she was dead. She left a precious husband and 3 young boys: 18-month-old Joel, 3-year-old Jeremiah, and five-year-old Noah.

And now, Kent was preparing to give Joy the last gift he could give her—a…  ( Click for more )

"Self-preoccupation, self-broodings, self-interest, self-love—these are the reasons we jar each other. Learn to give and not to take, to drown your own hungry wants in the happiness of lending yourself to fulfill the interest of those nearest and dearest." –Strength and Joy.

Friday morning when I was spray painting the boys hair for school, I remembered a lesson that my sister and I learned in high school.

Our dad was a preacher, and his salary didn't allow us to jump in the car and run to Memphis to spend $300 dollars on prom dresses. So mom sewed them…  ( Click for more )

All Fraying out of character begins with one little thread left loose." J.R. Miller Fatal sentence: "Oh, it doesn't matter just this once!" Charlotte Mason

Are you up for a gross story this week? I have one. I mean, it's not that gross, but I just wanted you to be prepared.

I was washing my face (yes, mom) for bed on Thursday night, and once again noticed that my bathroom drain was running slowly—very slowly. I'd been ignoring it for sometime, hoping it would go away. But for some odd reason, it hadn't yet. Ugh. "Maybe I'll fix it tomorrow." But I knew the…  ( Click for more )

Drudgery is the touchstone to character… learn to live in the domain of drudgery by the power of God… Oswald Chambers

It was late Thursday night. (Well, it was late if you're a first grader.) Grant and I were sitting on the couch studying for his spelling test. When one can hardly read his spelling words, writing them correctly on a test can be especially challenging. Grant had to write each spelling word four times: once in all capital letters, once in crayon, once in pencil, and once in marker. If you're in first grade, this much writing seems akin to a 10-page…  ( Click for more )

"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 for over 6 months has finally seen its demise. I saw it myself. I was there to witness Jackson dodging past older brother Max and stepping over the goal line for the winning touchdown.

I personally found the whole game stressful because I knew what was at stake. Older brother Max and baby Grant had managed…  ( Click for more )

"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

Last summer when my sister's in-laws came to California for a visit, the Perrigos and Mathews went on a hike. It wasn't just any hike. It was a 4 ½ mile round-trip trek with six adults (one of which needed knee replacement surgery, and 9 kids; ages 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 5, 5, 3, and 6-months.

It was all joy when we first started. The trail was beautiful, the kids…  ( Click for more )

If you've ever seen the movie "Schindlers List," you might remember a clandestine wedding that takes place one night in the barracks. The marriage is between 24-year old Joseph Bau, prisoner number 69082, and Rebecca Tannenbaum, the manicurist of Amon Goeth, the ruthless Nazi who ruled over the camp in which they were held, Plaschow Prison Camp.

Later, the Nazis decided to close Plaschow, and move everyone to Auschwitz. Oscar Schindler had gotten permission to open a munitions plant in Czechoslovakia, and was determined to take his workers who lived at Plaschow, with him. Late…  ( Click for more )

"Lord, You have assigned me my portion and my cup, you have made my lot secure." Psalm 16:5

It was every girl's dream. I was being held tightly in the arms of one man while fourothers fought and wrestled for me.

Well, that's the romance novel version. What really happened sounds a little different. We took our boys to a snow park in the Sierra last weekend. My husband Scott was holding me for ransom on the side of a steep, snow-covered hill. He would only release me to the first Mathews Brother who could get to the top of the hill and give me a kiss. The boys growled…  ( Click for more )

(Here's something a little different this week: a story I found in the UK Telegraph.)

"The King will answer and say to them, `Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'"

In 1958, 35 year old Englishwoman Anita Goulden went on holiday to Peru to visit her brother. Anita was a widowed, single mother who owned two haberdasheries in Manchester, England. She was about to go home by way of the United States when she saw an unbelievable sight--children with tuberculosis and meningitis…  ( Click for more )

By heaven we understand a state of happiness infinite in degree, and endless in duration. Benjamin Franklin

Yesterday, when I was riding in my car, I 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 group in Missouri. She was our first paid babysitter. She is the one who decorated my Christmas tree one year with handmade paper snow flakes. One fall as we were amping up for a fresh theme in youth ministry, Portia, me, and lots of other people, worked for hours to turn the church's basement…  ( Click for more )

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

(I wrote this for my work, so it also appears on SermonCentral.com. It's a great story.)

In 1809, Simon Renee Braille and his wife Monique welcomed their fourth child into the world-- a lively boy named Louis. They lived in a small stone house near Paris where Braille was the local harness maker. Leather working tools are dangerous, so the toddler had been instructed not to go into his father's shop alone.

But when Louis…  ( Click for more )

"The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you in power… and you will be changed into a different person." I Samuel 10:6

There's this store I shop at. I have a love/hate relationship with it. I love this store because it's huge and has everything imaginable. I hate this store because it's huge and has everything imaginable. You know the kind. You spend twice what you ought because you see all these things you didn't even know you needed until you see them. You also get your day's workout getting diapers in one corner and then walking half a mile to get potting soil in…  ( Click for more )

"The secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances." Elizabeth Elliot

This week the Mathews family took my parents, Max and Marilyn Goins, on a week of vacation to Southern California. The trip was partly business, partly pleasure, and hopefully lesson-time for the Mathews Brothers.

We live an average life for America. The American dream of wealth and perfection is miles down the road. We have two cars, a 1990 Nissan and a 1998 GMC Suburban. We have a 1600 square-foot-house with a spa that was here when we purchased the house. We spend money for…  ( Click for more )