The 'Olden' Days

I absolutely love the 'olden' days.... you know what I'm talking about... the days beautifully painted for us in the tales of Laura Ingalls Wilder or Jane Austen, or Louisa May Alcott's Little Women and Little Men.  I dream about those days and have often thought & joked that I was born in the wrong era.  Of course, the Lord created me for 'such a time as this,' and has not mistakenly put me in the latter 20th-21st centuries.  But I still long for days of a simpler, more classical nature.  In my mind, I would be the wife and mother who never wearied of serving her family-even though she was maybe physically tired, who never was impatient with her children-even though they may give her 'reason' to be, who never turned away someone who needed an ear to listen, or a warm meal- even though time and food were scarce... I could go on and on, but I won't.  You get the picture.  When I visualize the atmosphere of our home and family, it always reflects the warmth of that era...  Happy children, patient, loving Mother, strong but gentle Father...  Mother patiently and lovingly educating the children in matters of Faith as well as academics, seeing well to the ways of her home, the family gathered around the fire after dinner and evening play time, Daddy leading evening Bible study w/ the family whilst the children are gathered in his lap w/ Mother sewing/crocheting/knitting in her chair... (notice the lack of intense media input here?)  Honestly, the atmosphere painted in the book Little Men is exactly what I've always envsioned my life to look like, right down to the scads of boys sliding down the bannister on Saturday evenings and the keeping of the Sabbath... Unrealistic?  Perhaps in total... but a set-apart life must reflect in part a little of that peaceful picture.  The Lord is the center of it, for without Him as the Rock, this bright, vivid, peaceful portrait would wither away as quickly as a sun-scorched flower and become nothing more than a greyscale sketch of hustle and bustle... I will struggle against that greyscale sketch all the days of my life, I think, as the pressure to succumb to all the busyness around me tries to crowd in...through it all I will cling to the Words of my Lord,
"I have said these things to you, that in m you may have peace.  In the world you will have tibultion.  But take heart, I have overcome the world."  John 16:33
"And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  Phil 4:7