AT HOME IN MITFORD WEEK 10 CHAPTERS 17 - 18

AT HOME IN MITFORD by Jan Karon

Cynthia. Just that name invokes lots of mental pictures and the most beautiful of thoughts. Don't you just admire her? Her willingness to go in and sit with Uncle Billy and Miss Rose, to eat the pound cake (wonder if she'll regret that tomorrow), to crawl into Miss Rose's childhood room that hadn't been entered in years. Wait a minute. Forget all that! How about the ability to connect with Miss Rose to the point that Miss Rose invited her into her most sacred place. Amazing! And don't you just love Cynthia's honesty. I loved the game that she and Father Tim played back and forth about things they don't love. Her Courage. To ask about Father Tim's parents (my heart is breaking). How many times have we thought we could change someone who didn't want to be changed? Have you ever attended a church where frostbite was a real possibility? Back to Courage. The steps she takes in asking what Father Tim likes about her. She pushes but just a little. Did you smile later when she asked him if he wanted to go steady?

So many other places to go with these chapters. The fact that our FT still questions if he is making a difference in Mitford, but we all understand where he's coming from don't we? Don't we question ourselves in the same manner. Leave it to Cynthia to point that out. The difficulty of Russell Jacks. (I loved how FT noted where Dooley's bull headedness comes from. The letter J.C. Hogan received from the boy and his father wanting to know how to be saved. Dooley and his fight with Buster Austin. (Ever find yourself in a dilemma on how to discipline your kids? What do you think about how FT handled it?) So much more, but the rest is up to you!