Jean Mathews

Two Stories of Faith: Eli, the Shepherd Boy and Abigail, the Innkeeper's Wife Jean Mathews

The stories of Eli and Abigail appear at first glance, to be simple Christmas stories, but to those who read with an open heart, these are stories for all seasons, and are appropriate for all ages. Both are filled with information about the lives and circumstances of those who lived 2000 year ago. Skeptics may say there was no Eli, who tended sheep on the Judean hillside, but those who walk with him through the pages of his story will come to know him and the loneliness and hardships that were part of his life of obedience. From the first Christmas to the end of his life, Eli's years were spent learning that faith requires commitment. Some will say that the innkeeper had no wife, but Abigail's life speaks for her-and it speaks to every mother who has wept over a wayward child, or ached because arms longing to hold an infant were empty. Life's lessons for her were patience and endurance.