A collection of short stories, highlighting some of the best and worst characteristics we women are capable of in our Christianity and in our home life.

Final book in the Chautauqua Girls series. The four original girls return to Chautauqua on the 25 year anniversary of the trip that changed their lives forever. They have with them some children that could use the lessons they themselves learned there. (Introduction by TriciaG)Music for the hymn in Chapters 9 & 26 is titled "Chautauqua" by William, F. Sherman, 1877. Music for the children's song in Chapter 19 is adapted from "Love Lifted Me" by Howard E. Smith, 1912.

Little Mag Jessup is an orphan girl who works hard as a servant in Mrs. Perkins' boarding house to earn her keep. She has no education, except what she has picked up on her own. Her future looks unchanging until she is given, on a whim, a devotional book called "Little Pillows," in which she learns that she is valuable to God as His child. She endures trials from many fronts and the prejudice of haughty, rich Margaret, with whom she has more in common than she thinks, on her journey with God. (Introduction by TriciaG)

Tip Lewis is a mischievous, unpromising scamp. One Sunday, a visiting Sunday school teacher tells his mission class how her minister had grown up in similarly bad circumstances, but had decided to follow God and had never regretted it. Tip decides to try to BE somebody, like that minister did. He is given a Bible - his lamp - to use as a guide, and from there, his life begins to change. (Introduction by TriciaG)

A temperance lecturer misses his train and ends up attending a town picnic. It was a common enough picnic on a commonplace day. But the discussions, actions, and attitudes from that picnic reverberate through the lives of many people. What are the far-reaching consequences of one commonplace day in OUR lives?

Now that the railroad has come through, Christie Tucker's parents have decided to save enough for her to go to her well-to-do Uncle Daniel for a one-day visit, on Christmas, which is also Christie's birthday. It's her first trip away from home -- and on the cars! Of course, the trip doesn't turn out exactly as expected. That one day, and how Christie lived it, has consequences that keep coming! Addressed by the author to girls, it is still a pleasant story for adults, too.

In the Wilbur home, six o'clock on Saturday evening was the children's hour with Grandma. . . . During the season of which I am going to tell you, she and they had planned that the story was always to be about a certain verse in the Bible. . . . I cannot copy all the stories for you; but it has occurred to me that there is no good reason why, once a month, you should not join the Wilbur circle and hear for yourselves. So, without more ceremony, consider yourselves invited. - Summary from the text

Twelve stories, one for each month of the year, which first list a few Bible verses then relate how those verses took effect in a young person's life. The first 10 chapters are letters written by Frank Hudson to his cousin Renie. Frank is a boy who gets into trouble when he doesn't think before acting. He receives Bible verses as a kind of "hedge fence" he has to jump through or climb over to do the wrong things; they scratch him and give him a prick, and remind him of what is the right way to go...

The Cameron family tries to keep up in society despite their more limited finances, by "making a dollar look to [their] friends as though it was ten dollars," much to the harried father's embarrassment and potential ruin. In addition to the financial stress, the youngest daughter has been "bringing up herself," such that she's on the road to moral peril. This story follows the life of the family as they walk the tightrope between social acceptability and financial stability, moral failure and strength through the guidance of Jesus Christ. - Summary by TriciaG

Due to a clerical error, successful attorney Charles Gordon Curtiss arrives a day late to give a lecture in a nearby town. But the literary society's loss is Curtiss' gain; he meets the charming Constance Stuart and falls in love. A year later, they marry. The very next day, however, before Curtiss can bring Constance to her new home, Constance meets a young woman named Pauline. What Pauline tells her alters the lives of all of them for years to come. - Summary by TriciaG

A wealthy and successful author, John Stuart King is preparing to write his next book, which includes a homeless tramp. He has done all the research and thinks he knows what he needs to on the subject. But in a sermon he hears with a friend, the minister exhorts his flock to be kind to the homeless, as if they were Jesus himself. Taking the minister’s sermon to heart, John Stuart resolves to live the life of a tramp so he can truly understand the tramp's plight. He not only finds information for his upcoming book, but he learns life lessons about truth and integrity, and finds the truth about loving Christ from the heart. - Summary by TriciaG

Twelve year old Helen is determined to be a good girl, but the harder she tries, the worse her days go. Is there any hope? And what made such a change in the life of her grown-up brother in the seven years he was away from home? Little do the Lesters know what a pivotal year this will be in each of their lives.This is the first book ever published by Isabella Alden whose pen name was Pansy.

Stephen Mitchell is a young man without a place in the world. He hates farming, although he works endless hours on the poor family farm. He isn't qualified for many jobs in town since he's had very little formal schooling. And he is a loner because he’s too self-conscious and awkward to speak to other boys his age, let alone a young lady. But Providence puts Stephen in the middle of a lecture at the Chautauqua camp meeting. For the first time in his life, Stephen is inspired to take one small step toward improving himself. And that single small step soon begets another. - Summary by TriciaG

A tale of human choices and lost opportunities, and how one's choices affect so many other lives, for good or ill. A borrowed watch. A selfish younger brother. An engagement and flirtation. A trip to the city to replace the watch turns David Ransom's life in a whole new direction. - Summary by TriciaG

Fiction, or fact? The narrator asserts it's fact. The narrator is an author, whom her little nieces call "Auntie Belle". There's also an "Auntie Dule" , Grandpa and Grandma, Mama and Papa, and eventually an Uncle Ross . The book is made up of vignettes of the funny sayings or doings of little Minnie and little Gracie, and how these lead to Grandpa's wise lessons for both the little ones and the adults. - Summary by TriciaG

Miss Cora Parkhurst is an irresponsible and flighty Sunday school teacher for a group of young ladies. She has simply no time to prepare the lessons, nor any knowledge of what it means to be a sincere Christian. Mr. Robert Hammond is an earnest, dedicated Sunday school teacher for a group of young men. Mr. Hammond invites Miss Parkhurst to the weekly teachers' meeting to spur her on, only to discover how much spiritual help and encouragement she needs! Meanwhile, Miss Parkhurst's fiance, Mr. George Tracy, is ambivalent towards any religious activities that interfere with his and Cora's relationship, and despises Mr. Hammond.

Two shorter stories in one book. In "Miss Priscilla Hunter," the church has been carrying debt for years. It's an embarrassment, and it is hindering them from doing necessary work. They've tried to chip away at it in the past with festivals and fundraisers, but it seems like it will never go away. Miss Hunter, a poor seamstress, finally takes matters into her own hands and works to KILL that debt once and for all! In "My Daughter Susan," we tag along with Susan in what is apparently a typical day for her, seeing how she works for others and her Lord, within the context of temperance.

Two short stories by Pansy. In "What She Said and What She Meant," Mrs. Marks detests gossip and avoids it as much as she can. But what she does say is vague and suggestive. It is taken, added to, and passed on by others, so that it is no longer what she meant, and threatens to ruin people's reputations and lives in the process. In "People Who Haven't Time and Can't Afford It," Mrs. Leymon is awakened to the needs of the abject poor in her town and works out how to help them. But will she find anyone able and willing to give of their time and money to help her with the scheme?

A group of young adults away on a nutting expedition is delayed in a hospitable home by a sudden rainstorm. After the storm, Marjorie insists that she must get home that night, albeit late, out of respect and care for her mother. Others want to extend the fun and stay away overnight. Ralph, the driver of their wagon and unspoken beau of Marjorie, is swayed by the teasing ridicule of Estelle to refuse to take them home that night. Unknown to the party, unexpected opportunities occur at Ralph's and Estelle's homes that same night, and their delay and subsequent actions profoundly affect the course of all three of their lives. Sequel: Overruled

Sequel to Miss Dee Dunmore Bryant. Being 20 minutes late after a day out with the Kedwins and Ben and Daisy, her siblings, starts a series of events in motion that lead Caroline Bryant to Philadelphia...and to people and situations she could never have foreseen. - Summary by TriciaG

The Bryant family - widowed Mrs. Bryant and her children Benjamin, Caroline , and little Daisy - is on the thin edge of poverty due to debt incurred when Mr. Bryant was alive. We follow the family, especially Ben and Daisy, as they help shoulder some of the burden. Prominent in the story are children's dolls, which are the means to some of the family's income. - Summary by TriciaG

Old Mrs. Solomon Smith considers herself "nothing but an ignorant old woman" who didn't have the advantages others did when growing up. However, those around her know that she's actually full of biblical wisdom and the experience of walking with Christ through the years. She shares her wisdom -- and more importantly, Christ -- to those she meets in everyday life, in a wise and gentle manner. She touches lives wherever she goes. But can her life and example touch the heart of Laura, a young woman who loves and respects her, but doesn't seem interested in religion?

Three young women are the central characters in this story. Callie and her husband are poor, but they are frugal, spending using God's principles, and they reserve a tenth for God's work. Eva's husband makes more than double what Callie's husband makes, but that doesn't keep them from sinking beneath a load of debt. Even worse, she feels that her husband thinks it's her fault - and she thinks it is, too. She's an inexperienced housekeeper and doesn't know where the money goes. Happy-go-lucky Jennie wants to marry a rich man, so that her married life can be filled with parties, gaiety and pretty things. Will Coleman is poor, and not a Christian, but he's SO gentlemanly and romantic...

Twenty-seven year old Rebecca Meredith feels out of place and unwanted. She has lost her mother, brother, and idolized little sister to the grave. Her beau suddenly and without warning marries someone else. And her father has brought home a new wife. The new Mrs. Meredith tries to befriend Rebecca, but Rebecca feels pushed out. She moves to another city and tries to earn her own way, finding her way into the McKenzie house as the nurse-girl to the baby of the family, who reminds her so much of her own late sister...

Thirteen year old Nettie Decker is called home after having lived with another family for 7 years, to find that her father is a drunkard and her family is in poverty and hopelessness because of it. Her stepmother has given up, and her stepbrother is headed down the same path as her father. As she struggles with the reality of her home life, she meets a friendly neighbor boy, with whom she pledges to do all she can to save her father and stepbrother.