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    A Just Man
    A Just Man
    A Just Man
    Ebook131 pages1 hour

    A Just Man

    By Helen Daniel

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Farmers, preachers, and shipbuilders, generations of the Matthews family struggle to live according to Gods will. Through the Revolutionary War, droughts, and floods, they strive to hold firm to their belief in the love and forgiveness of their Creator, but will the outsiders they take into their homes and hearts reaffirm or destroy their faith?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWestBow Press
    Release dateAug 16, 2012
    ISBN9781449755232
    A Just Man
    Author

    Helen Daniel

    Helen Daniel was born in rural Pitt County, North Carolina, the sixth of eight children. Mrs. Daniel’s fondest childhood memory is of the day her parents came to know Christ. In 1950, she married Kornegay “Danny” Daniel. Together they owned and operated the Mid Way Service Station and Grocery north of Enfield until their retirement in 2000. For many years, Mrs. Daniel taught Sunday school and wrote children’s stories and plays to supplement the lessons she taught. Her husband passed away in 2009. She currently lives in Tarboro, where her home is often a gathering place for family and friends.

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      Book preview

      A Just Man - Helen Daniel

      Copyright © 2012 Helen Daniel

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      WestBow Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

      WestBow Press

      A Division of Thomas Nelson

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.westbowpress.com

      1-(866) 928-1240

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      ISBN: 978-1-4497-5523-2 (e)

      ISBN: 978-1-4497-5524-9 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4497-5525-6 (hc)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2012910121

      WestBow Press rev. date: 9/17/2012

      Contents

      Preface

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Chapter 5

      Chapter 6

      Chapter 7

      Chapter 8

      Chapter 9

      Chapter 10

      Chapter 11

      Chapter 12

      Chapter 13

      Chapter 14

      Chapter 15

      Chapter 16

      Chapter 17

      Chapter 18

      Chapter 19

      Chapter 20

      Chapter 21

      Chapter 22

      Chapter 23

      About the Author

      In loving memory of Danny,

      my husband of 59 years

      Preface

      Some years ago, my friend Debbie Greene asked me to write a story she could read to her vacation Bible camp young people. They enjoyed the story, so I later wrote two more stories about the same family. During a church writer’s club, I completed the manuscript and began dreaming of having it published. My niece Dana Everette, a retired language arts teacher, offered to read over the manuscript and do some proofreading and editing if I would first have it typed and saved on a flash drive. Here my niece Jenny Everett stepped in and generously offered her time and typing skills .Then, with all the parts installed on her computer, Dana helped knit them into the book that follows. My grandnephew Michael Everett, a landscape artist and art teacher, of Pataka, Florida, created the wonderful cover illustration especially for A Just Man.

      Thank you, Debbie, for the suggestion that started it all, and thank you Dana, Jenny, and Michael, for the time and caring you put into making my dream a reality.

      The just man walketh in his integrity:

      his children are blessed after him.

      Proverbs 20:7

      Chapter 1

      Thomas Matthews walked down the sandy path. It was the first day of June, and it was hot. The sand burned his bare feet, so he was glad to come to the edge of the woods, where the ground was cool and there was shade. He took a path to the right, stopped to watch a little rabbit scurry away, and then continued until he came to the creek. He sat down, leaned against an oak tree, and took off his straw hat. His freckled face was almost as red as his hair. Taking a jar of worms from the pocket of his homemade pants, Thomas placed one on the hook of his fishing line, dropped the line into the water, and gave a contented sigh. Fishing was his favorite thing in the whole world.

      Fishing was not only fun for him; it was necessary. Many times, if he didn’t catch any fish, there was no meat for the evening meal. His family grew vegetables, milked their cow, and raised chickens and pigs. They gathered the many fruits, nuts, and berries that grew wild in the woods of eastern North Carolina. Thomas loved everything about the country. He didn’t understand why anyone would want to live in town. In the country, he felt safe and far away from the conflict between the colonies and England that his father referred to as the War of Independence.

      Thomas already knew that when he grew up he was going to be a farmer, like his father, and marry Betty Jane Lewis, who was the prettiest girl for miles around. Her hair was almost as red as his. Of course, she didn’t know he liked her, but sometimes during church, when the preacher was praying and no one was looking, he would sneak a peek at her. Once he even caught her looking back at him.

      His second favorite thing in the world was working beside his father in the fields. His father was tall and thin. Thomas thought he had the best father in the world, and the smartest and the wisest one too. Thomas did think his father was too strict. When his father said no, he meant no, end of discussion. He sure knew how to use a switch when he felt Thomas needed a licking, but Thomas knew his father loved him, and the spankings were for his own good. Once when his father used a switch on him, Thomas saw tears in his father’s eyes. Yes, when he grew up, he wanted to be just like his father.

      Of course, he wouldn’t talk about God as much as his father did. As they worked, his father talked about how God made man and breathed into him the breath of life. He spoke of how everyone belonged to God by right of creation. Then he would explain how Adam and Eve sinned after all God had done for them. There was only one thing in the whole world they were not to do, and they disobeyed God. Thomas felt a little uncomfortable when his father talked about sin. His father’s voice would grow soft as he talked about God’s love for His children and how He had given the dearest thing He had, His only begotten Son, to die on the cross for their sins. Then he would add, We are so sinful, and God is so good.

      Thomas didn’t tell his father, but he really didn’t think they were so bad. In fact, he thought they were pretty good. When they had a good crop, his father gave God all the glory. It was God who sent the rain when needed, caused the sun to shine, and gave them the strength to work. But Thomas thought he and his father deserved a little credit too; they had worked hard.

      Thomas fished for a couple of hours and had only a few nibbles. It looked as if there would be no fish for supper. He decided to try one more spot before going home. He crossed to the other side of the creek on a log and found the spot where he had caught a bass before. He threw the hook in the water, but before he could sit down there was a big tug on the line. The fish lunged and almost jerked the pole out of his hands. Thomas had never had a bite like that. His father had taught him that when he hooked a big fish, he should let it wear itself down before trying to pull it in, so Thomas just held on tightly and let the fish tire itself out. Finally the lunges became farther and farther apart,then they weakened. Thomas pulled it in. Yes! he shouted. This one big fish was large enough to feed his whole family of four.

      Thomas left the creek and headed home. As he walked back down the sandy path, it was still hot enough for the sand to burn his bare feet, but it didn’t matter. He whistled as he walked. He stopped at the apple tree, filled his pockets with apples, and stuck some inside his shirt. He laughed as he imagined how he must look. Then he took a shortcut through the cornfield.

      His mother would be pleased with the fish and apples. His mother always knew how to make a boy feel he was important and was quick to praise him when the praise was due. She was also quick to paddle him when he disobeyed.

      There was only one thing his mother did that he wished she wouldn’t. Sometimes Thomas would hear her praying, telling the Lord that she wanted her son to be a preacher, like his grandfather. Thomas didn’t want to be a preacher. He was going to be a farmer.

      All in all, though, he felt that he was the luckiest boy alive. He lived in the country and had the best mama and daddy any boy could ever have. Yes, all was right in Thomas’s world. God is good, he thought.

      When everything was going well, it was easy to be happy and say, God is good. But what if everything began to go wrong? What if God didn’t answer prayers the way Thomas wanted Him to? Would he still be able to say, God is good?

      Chapter 2

      Wanting to be quiet and surprise his mother, Thomas crept into the kitchen and laid the fish on the side table. He took the apples from his pockets and pulled his shirttail out of his pants; apples fell around his feet. He wanted to see his mother’s surprised look and hear her words of praise, but when she turned around, there were no words of praise, and her eyes were red from crying. Something was wrong.

      Mama, what’s wrong? Is it Grandpa? Baby Andrew’s not sick again, is he? Thomas asked, choking back tears. Mama shook her head and said nothing. Thomas quietly went outside to the woodshed and brought in the wood so she could begin supper. He left her cleaning the fish and went back out to find his father, who was feeding the mules. Thomas, as usual, began to help without

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