Faithful in the Small Things

I don’t know why these words keep coming back to me today. Faithful in the small things. These words, bouncing around in my head, were enough to make me want to reach out and write to you during my month-long hiatus, even if I have nothing overly profound to say.

I woke up yesterday and absorbed the shock of Donald Trump being elected president. We’re six hours ahead in Paris so I had no idea where things stood when I went to bed the night before. The initial news was a sucker-punch, and I tried to process it while reading the Bible and praying. I read a Psalm. I can’t remember which one. And I kept breaking off to check the news feed because, at the time, there was still no sure winner, even if one was looking likely. And then I just had to accept that what I’d hoped wouldn’t happen actually did.

So I decided to write my daily word count for my Regency novel. Maybe that’s where the ‘faithful in the small things’ idea started. I wanted to stay the course and write, despite how I was feeling.

I’ve been doing fine with NaNoWriMo and am clocking in my 1667 words per day. I usually go over the count, and have even bought myself a day off, and then some. I might use the freebie for when we celebrate Thanksgiving later this month. Or it might be for a really bad day when I feel like I’ve got nothin’.

Most of the time, though, I’m able to keep working away at the rough draft, even on the days where everything feels dry. And if I’m not overly busy with life, I even have time left to kill. There are a few posts I’ve wanted to share with you, and at this rate, I might actually be able to share them before the end of November.

There was Halloween. (Not news – just this one picture since the holiday is not big here. My son, the mad scientist – or nerd. Your pick).

There’s our weekend anniversary spent in Fontainebleau. This’ll be a post.

That is one amazing chateau and I can’t wait to show it to you.

There’s the recipe for quiche, which fits the nutritionist’s plan I told you about – plus the update on how that has been going. (Ups and downs, slow and steady, but still headed in the right direction).

Oh yes! This is breaking news for right now, not for a future post. First – in news that will matter more to me than to you, but thank you for indulging me – I was hugely encouraged that my memoir broke the 100 reviews count on Amazon, and now I feel like I’ve arrived. 😉

Secondly, both my books are recently on Barnes & Nobles and available for Nook (so far, only the romance for Nook but the memoir will be available by the end of the month). You can get my memoir, Stars Upside Down, here on the Barnes & Nobles website. It’s not yet available in the stores – I’m working on that – but I’m pretty sure they can order it for you if you ask them.

The Viscount of Maisons-Laffitte is available in both print and for Nook. If you happen to have an account and have read either book, would you be so kind as to leave me a review there? It makes a big difference and right now the books look a little sad with no reviews. Again, thanks for your indulgence.

Then there’s my current manuscript, which I might eventually post a snippet or two to show you what I’m working on. Another time. Not today.

So those are the posts I plan to share, along with the updates. And I’m still reading and absorbing and adjusting to a different tomorrow than the one I had planned. To be truthful, this was just one more thing to bear. On a personal level, we’ve had bigger fish to fry lately. We already have three intense situations going on in our personal lives that require forbearance, grace and forgiveness, and a trust that God has not forgotten us. The future of American politics and its ramifications just feels like another stone on the scale.

So I decided to be faithful in the small things. I wrote what I was supposed to write yesterday, and plan to do so today along with this blog post. We readied the house for my friend’s son, who was to come for dinner so he could practice his English (he ended up needing to cancel). But I tidied up and cooked something good, of which our family benefited. The wind had knocked down a garbage can full of recycling down the street from me, and it was blowing onto the street. I walked back and picked up the trash and put the can back near the neighbour’s fence. (This is not me being good. This is me trying to cope, and … I guess, be faithful in the small things).

The idea, of course, comes from Matthew 25:14-30, and most particularly, vs 20-21:

The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. “Master,” he said, “you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.”

 ‘His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”

And, of course, the actual term is ‘faithful with a few things’. I don’t possess any political power, nor any deep understanding of policy. I can only vaguely follow the implication on trade deals and its impact on the country’s (and world’s) economy. But I can leave a mark in my small way.

I will keep searching for ways to help the refugees who are flooding the streets. I will continue to stand up for those who are oppressed because of race or religion. I will grow in ways I can make a more positive impact on the environment (not my forté). I will do a better job of teaching my children about their civic duty in two cultures. I will seek to understand people whose opinions and beliefs are different from mine, instead of despising them.

And I will clean my house. No – no Nobel prizes for cleaning one’s house, but it’s being faithful in the small things.

I will show respect* to the newly-elected president, not because I am naturally of a humble and reverent disposition, but because of Romans 13.

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended.For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.

This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: if you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honour, then honour.

* I can’t promise I won’t laugh at Steven Colbert’s jokes.

And I will honour God and let him work things out as he sees fit. Even if I can’t yet see my way in His.

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