Boy Matthew, A Story of Grief and Grace by Phyllis & Hertford Arnold and published by JC Print.
This book is a testimony and tribute to a young man, Matthew Arnold, who early in life, had anchored his faith in Jesus Christ. It is no surprise that one of his favourite hymns was “Will your anchor hold in the storms of life, When the clouds unfold their wings of strife …” Matthew used to enjoy a good sing when he was able to give full expression to what he believed in his heart.
Matthew was not aware, nor was his family, that the wings of strife would unexpectedly sweep over them and plunge them into deep tragedy. Matthew was killed in a motor-cycle accident three weeks after the birth of his first child, Eve Matty Jean. His wife, Ciara, was absolutely devastated. For his parents, Hertford and Phyllis Arnold, and Matthew’s brother Ford and wife Nicola, it was a further heart-breaking and inexplicable calamity.
They had already suffered the loss of two sons, Thomas and Wendsley, back in November 1989 within several days of each other. That story and testimony is already recorded in a book, ‘Some Party in Heaven.’ ‘Boy Matthew’ is a family testimony of how God’s grace has sustained them through their grief and sorrow. The testimony of ‘the anchor’ that Matthew sang about, is that “the anchor still holds,” sure and steadfast in the midst of the severest storms in life – that anchor is Jesus Christ, the Rock of our salvation.
