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?'