At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon (1994)

It’s rare that I read a contemporary fiction book (presuming that a book written in 1994 would be in that category) but I have two good friends who loved At Home in Mitford, as well as its sequels, so I decided to read the first book in the series.
Mitford is a charming fictional village modelled on a small town in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Father Tim, a conservative 60 year old Episcopalian priest and bachelor, is the main character. He has been the rector at Mitford for twelve years and is feeling exhausted, fatigued and low in spirits. He needs a holiday but doesn’t feel he can go away and leave his congregation.

To complicate matters, a very large dog turns up and adopts him, he takes on the care of a neglected young boy with atrocious manners, and he falls in love with his new neighbour.
At Home in Mitford is a gentle book to delve into if you need to take a breath, slow down, and find comfort in the little ordinary things that we tend to miss when life is busy.

“Y’know, Preacher, th’ more things you own, th’ more you’re owned by things.”

If you like Elizabeth Goudge’s writing you’d probably enjoy Karon’s. I enjoyed immersing myself in the lives of the people of Mitford and will be giving it to my 15 yr old daughter to read.

‘What had he done all those years with no dog and no boy, just the everlasting monotony of his own company? He supposed he hadn’t noticed very much that he was alone, proving the old adage that “you can’t miss what you never had."’

It's easier to be a fanatic than a faithful soul... Driven vs Resting - Part 3

The test of a man's religious life and character is not what he does in the exceptional moments of life, but what he does in the ordinary times, when there is nothing tremendous or exciting on. The worth of a man is revealed in his attitude to ordinary things when he is not before the footlights...

It is easier to be a fanatic than a faithful soul.

 Oswald Chambers

A good tree bears good fruit. Fruit is one of those things that can't be rushed and it takes time for it to develop so we don't get to see the results of the fruit of our actions or those of others immediately. This is something I hang on to when I get tired of being faithful. I'm not going to see the fruit for a while but it will come. It also stops me from jumping to the sound of other voices.

I've learnt from many different people and in many different ways, but to know someone whose life exhibits good fruit - in their family life, marriage, other relationships and character - and to learn from them has been most valuable for me. You'll know them by their fruits is the ultimate test of how we've lived our lives because the fruit displays the end result of many small acts of faithfulness over a long period of time.

Some things to think about:

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness. 2 Peter 1:2

I do all these things (being a wife and a mother, homeschooling) calling on the grace of God.

•   Home education - is this a priority for me or am I neglecting it for other things?

•   Am I trying to please others to get their approval?

•  How many times have I changed what I was doing, not because it wasn't working, but purely because someone else raved about something they were using or said it was the best?

•  Do I now find I'm dissatisfied with what I've changed to??

•  Am I being faithful where I am at this time?

• Do I get easily distracted by what everyone else is doing?

• Am I comparing my family with another and feeling anxious that we're not doing things as well as they are?

• If so, do I personally know this family and haven't just read about them? Or do they only have girls and I have a houseful of boys? 

• Am I a fanatic? (I have tended to be at times...) or am I a faithful soul? (That's what I want to be)

Anxiety never releases tomorrow of its problems. It only empties today of its strengths.

Charles Spurgeon 

Driven vs Resting - Part 2

I talked about being driven as opposed to being led in my first post. In this post I'm looking at Resting.

To Rest:

To cease from labour, work or performance
To be quiet or still; to be undisturbed 
To be quiet or tranquil, as the mind; not to be agitated by fear, anxiety or other passion.
To be satisfied.

We become unsettled because we read about someone else whose life looks so much better than ours; we get dissatisfied because our children are ordinary and they complain about having to do their work.

I am so grateful for homeschooling blogs and the wonderful people that share what their families are doing but I remind myself that these are only snapshots of their lives and not the whole movie. If I'm having a difficult time with one of my children, comparing my situation with a picture perfect family on a blog is certainly going to disturb me and produce unrest.

One of the best antidotes or safeguards against stepping out of a place of rest in our lives is faithfulness.

Faithfulness is really underrated.

Faithfulness is an anchor

If I'm being faithful I don't get distracted as easily.

 Taking in the Laundry by Grandma Moses (1951)

Faithful: 

Constant, not fickle; fidelity; a strict adherence to duty and fulfilment of promises.

The opposite is faithless or neglectful.

I've had seasons of babies, toddlers, pre-schoolers, teens, young adults and everything in between and in each season there were certain duties, responsibilities and priorities. There were things I knew I couldn't do without neglecting these obligations.

I also made certain promises before my children came along and one of them was to honour and respect my husband. When I take these two areas of faithfulness into account it narrows my path somewhat.

I've had innumerable occasions where I've agonised over this or that and dredged through untold ideas, come to a state of sheer frustration and finally asked my husband what he thought.

One of his most common replies is, 'Stop making so much work for yourself.'

Being faithful, with all that this word implies, doesn't look exciting. A faithful person is often overlooked. The results of this kind of life aren't seen overnight and sometimes not for many years. Maybe that's why the book of Proverbs asks, 'A faithful man who can find?'