Hey, my name is Matthew Bond and I’m the author and artist behind Making Ends Meet. Thanks for checking out the website and wanting to learn more about the book and about who I am! If you’ve read it, you might already have a decent idea…there’s a lot of ‘me’ in it!
Meet the Author
Making Ends Meet is a deeply personal project, both in the content and what it means to me. Today, I’m a carpenter by day and author by night. I’m a soon to be husband looking to build a life with my beautiful fiancée, Merry. Our prayers and dreams are to start a family and have as many kids as God blesses us with. Any support you show us and the book directly helping that dream and I can’t thank you enough! Merry and I met during COVID, she always likes to say, she fell in love with half of my face. I fell in love with her heart. She helped me through difficult times in the final years of my PhD program at Dartmouth. I proposed to her in March of 2023, then defended my thesis on titanium implant infections later that summer. By that time, I hadn’t found a job I wanted in my field. The more I looked, the fewer things seemed to fit. At the same time, my focus was changing. God sent me my wife, and I had to look at myself in the mirror. I didn’t like what I saw. Bad habits, laziness, apathy. Constant, unending anxiety and stress. I lacked any kind of confidence, didn’t have a voice of my own. I needed to be a better man for her.
The struggle became, how? How can I change? The sad part, I already knew the answer, but forgot it. For a good part of my collegiate career, I’d left my childhood faith by the wayside. I was raised Catholic, but got hopelessly lost. I was wrapped up in wanting to be liked by everyone, and my pride pushed God out. Having since reverted to the Faith, Jesus has moved more in my life than I could imagine. He helped heal old wounds, and open new doors. It wasn’t an instant process, and never is (nor can we complete it in this life!). But, He guided me through this book and continues guiding me today. He taught me through writing, and willed me to be a new man for Him and my future wife.
Now, I strive to take Jesus with me in all the things I do. Not just at Mass or church functions, but all the other odds and ends of life. Besides being an author and space nerd, I’m also an avid outdoorsman! I love exploring the forests and lakes of New Hampshire, usually with a rod or rifle in hand, but sometimes in snow shoes or swimsuits. In the winter, I also like to don the pillows and take my place between the pipes as a beer league hockey goalie (hopefully my plot isn’t as leaky as my tending). Then there’s my, ‘technology’ hobbies. Working on cars is always fun, but racing them in video games is better for my budget. THEN, there’s my ‘crafting’ hobbies. While I do construction for a living, I still enjoy all sorts of wood working and building projects. I’ve hand carved my own fishing lures, built desks and tables. Taught myself some very crude welding. I like designing and 3D printing parts and pieces. You’ve already gotten to see some of my paintings and drawings…
There’s a lot more I could share about myself (never been the best at it, hope this was ok) and I’d love to answer questions you have! I’ve got a blog (linked above) where you can read more about me, the book, and sci-fi topics in the world today. So, if you’re interested, subscribe to the newsletter and you’ll get updates about my blog. Look forward to posts about my personal reflections on the book, guest posts, commonly asked questions and more! Thank you again for your support of Making Ends Meet cause you’re bringing our prayers to life. Cheers and God Bless!
