In the Shelter of Stillness
By some sheer miracle (and certainly not by my own planning), this year has offered us a surprising gift: a season of stillness in the midst of busyness. What I expected to feel like an interruption: stressful, chaotic, “in the way,” has instead become a season full of discipleship conversations, laughter around read-alouds, and moments of family gathered close.
It hasn’t been without its stress or hurry but somehow, in spite of it all, there has been stillness. There has been peace. There has been joy.
Reflecting on this has made me ponder: How do we perceive stillness?
Is it only found in quiet mornings, tidy homes, or empty calendars? Or could stillness be something deeper?
The psalmist writes, “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)
This kind of stillness isn’t simply about silence or slowness. It’s about the posture of the heart. It’s a soul at rest, not because life is calm, but because God is present.
As the season grows heavier with demands and the days fill quickly, take heart:
You have access to a shelter of stillness. This shelter is not built by your planning, but held fast in the presence of the One who never changes.
Echoes of the Feast
A Living Basket of Books for the Mind and Heart
November arrives softly, blanketing the days in quiet light and cooler air. The colors fade, but what remains is stillness, a kind of holy hush before the winter. This Echo of the Feast invites your family to draw near the fire, slow your pace, and gather beauty with intention. It is a table set with gentle things: a story to share, poems to savor, pictures that pause the heart, and a hymn of thanks.
Let this be a month of unhurried wonder, of noticing the good gifts already given.
From the Press
Nocturne is coming on November 18th!
This long-labored work–full of shadows and starlight, medieval monks and moated castles, chants and stained glass—has become my own quiet hymn of praise. It is a curriculum born of stillness, shaped by wonder, and I cannot wait to place it in your hands!
This second volume in The Symphony of History journeys through the Middle Ages, from the fall of Rome to the dawn of the Renaissance. Designed as a 30-week study (three terms of 10 weeks) for Forms 1–3, it weaves living history, mapwork, biography, literature, and arts into a rich, chronological feast. With weekly readings, narration, timeline, and activities built into every page, Nocturne invites families to behold the light preserved in a time too often misunderstood.
Four custom timelines help untangle the era’s complexity: the rise of Rome’s inheritors, the Hundred Years’ War, the shifting crown of England, and the move from divine right to rule of law.
Charlotte’s corner
In my October newsletter I discussed what a Charlotte Mason education looks like (read it here), that it is not merely a transfer of information but the formation of character and soul. This is done through many practices but all under three realms of knowledge: Knowledge of God, Man, and the Universe. Miss Mason’s fifth principle provides us with the framework of how these practices can be applied to these three areas of knowledge: Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.
Atmosphere is the very breath of our home. It is the invitation to learn and the unwavering certainty that our aim is to disciple not just gather knowledge.
Discipline is the intentional forming of habits that build character. It is the steady rhythm of right practices, right thinking, right beliefs, right actions that are rooted in a love for God and what he deems right.
Life is the very nourishment of education. If the atmosphere and discipline are working in harmony to form the person then the life we live is pursuing meaningful ideas that stir our soul to self-education, making education not something we get through but what we live for.
Under the Laurel Tree: What we’ve been enjoying
It’s no secret that I enjoy reading, I will take this occasion to recommend my favorite read from October: Every Bend in the River by Emerson Ford was beautifully told about fiery Rosanna growing up and becoming a woman, mother, and patriot in the wilds of South Carolina in the decades leading up to the American Revolutionary War.
Our local family owned coffee shop makes a delicious London Fog that I can only justify treating myself to occasionally. My husband gifted me with supplies to make this delicious drink at home and I now imbibe regularly 🙂 This is the tea I use. You just need tea, vanilla syrup, hot water, and steamed milk.
As the season of Advent approaches I am again preparing to enjoy Handel’s Messiah. I created this compilation of Scripture, poetry, hymn lyrics, and art to help my kids follow along with Messiah. Perhaps you will find it helpful too.
Beauty to Behold
the mystery of the Mast Year
This autumn, I noticed our oaks were dropping quite a lot more acorns than last year, as they crashed on the metal roof of our shed all night long for weeks on end! Acorns were scattered in abundance, crunching underfoot and filling every corner of the yard and basketball court. It wasn’t just some acorns. It. was. a. lot! So I looked it up.
It’s called a mast year—a mysterious and irregular rhythm in which oak trees release their seeds in great, overwhelming numbers. Not every year, but anywhere from two to five years. It happens according to patterns unseen, known only to the trees and their ancient, quiet wisdom.
The more I read, the more I was drawn in. A mast year is more than a biological oddity, it’s a moment of abundant provision in the natural world. Squirrels feast. Deer grow strong. Creatures store and survive. And beneath it all, a silent miracle unfolds – there is an abundance of seed for new oak trees to begin.
There is beauty here, not in the perfect predictability of harvest, but in the unexpected generosity of creation.
As I stood beneath the oaks, I thought of Jesus’ words: “Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap… consider the lilies, how they grow…” It seems that we can also consider the oaks…how they wait, how they give, how they bear abundance in their own appointed time.
What a wonder to stumble upon this season. What a gift to see it.
The Old Oak by Jules Dupre (1870)
For the feast and the forming of hearts,
~Tiffany
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