The value of a ‘small’ Christian life

Do you have a story to share about your family’s experiences of life and faith? At Growing Faith we’d love to hear encouraging stories from ordinary Christian families. If you have a story to share, write to us here.

I grew up in Sydney—a vast city with an ever-growing population and a never-ending list of things to do and see. In Sydney, you can find just about anything or anyone if you travel far enough. It’s a world of opportunity, with very few limitations. What an exciting place to grow up!

But in our first year of marriage, we moved to the regional area where my husband grew up. Our ultimate plan was to head to Europe as missionaries (how exciting!), but out of the blue, we were offered the chance to gain some ministry experience by serving in an Anglican church outside of Sydney. After four years, with one toddler in tow, we ended up moving a few postcodes over to serve in another church in a regional town.

Thirteen years and three more sons later, we’ve had one church change and a few job changes for my husband, but we are still living in the same town. Part of the reason we have stayed put is that my parents generously helped us to buy a house here a number of years ago.

Since then, a strange thing has happened—our whole world has now shrunk down to this one small regional town. Our older kids have moved to a Christian school here, our youngest was offered a preschool place in the town, I have taken up part-time work a few blocks away from that, I now teach SRE in the local primary school … and even our sons’ Cadets unit moved to a new HQ—at the end of our street! I never have to travel more than six minutes in my normal weekly routine.

The life we have now is quite a contrast from the way I grew up. So what are the things I’ve noticed about the value of living a ‘small’ Christian life?

We know our neighbours

Remaining in the same house, street and town for this long means that we know all our neighbours, in fact, all the people in our street (a small cul-de-sac!), by name. We’ve known them long enough to develop relationships of genuine mutual care. We stop for a chat when we see each other, we bring each other’s bins in, check in on each other during black-outs or times of sickness, mow each other’s lawns, swap plants and produce and lend each other chairs and slow-cookers when visitors descend.

Friends become neighbours

Thanks to the relationships I’ve built in our street, I’ve been able to help a couple of friends move into the two rental properties. I managed to connect with the landlord when he was doing maintenance on the houses and persuaded him to take notice of my friends’ rental applications. As a result, two of our sons now have friends living in the same street! Two or three of their other friends also live in walking distance. Together, we are growing a community of mums who help each other with school drop offs and mind each other’s kids after school and during school holidays. As we open up our home to the kids of our street, I pray that they catch a glimpse of the kindness and welcome that our loving heavenly Father offers them too.

Our kids are benefitting from this old-fashioned play-in-the-street kind of childhood too! They are learning to relate with grace and generosity to children of different ages, personalities and family backgrounds.

I have to be a 360 degree Christian

In such a small, interconnected community, I can’t really go anywhere without seeing someone I recognise or know personally. There’s a lot of overlap between the various groups and communities we are part of. So there is absolutely no anonymity here.

The people around me know how I drive, how I shop, how I speak to my kids in public, how I treat strangers—shop assistants, the homeless, rowdy youth—how I treat my dog … even how well I maintain my home. Since I teach SRE in the local primary school and work at the local Anglican church, I have chosen to be known as a ‘public’ Christian. This means that as I go about these daily tasks, I need to keep in mind Jesus’ words: ‘let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven’ (Matthew 5:16). I trust that this experience is teaching our kids about living with integrity too.

The downside of living in a smaller community is that some people we cross paths with every week don't like us or our Christian faith. They think we're 'holier-than-thou' do-gooders. But we keep seeking to live God's way, doing good to friends and enemies alike, even when that makes us stand out as 'weird'.

We spend less time travelling

Having a ‘small’, local life, means we use our car less. I don’t have far to travel to school, preschool or work, which means I can spend more time doing other things. My kids can walk to some of their friends’ houses and also to Cadets, which makes us less dependent on our car during the week. I like the independence that this offers our older kids too.

We’re not paralysed by choice

When I lived in Sydney, there was always so much choice! Which supermarket? Which park? Which cinema? Which swimming pool? Which church?

But in a smaller town, there are only a few options. As a teenager, I loved having options; I wanted new adventures and experiences. But now, as a mother, it’s a relief not to have too many choices. It just makes life so much simpler. And for my kids, it means that anything more than our ‘boring’ small life really is an adventure. When we take a day trip to Sydney and go to a new park, a zoo, a museum or a beach, it is thoroughly enjoyed as a special treat.

Evangelism is relational and long-term

In choosing to put down roots in this town, we’ve seen the gospel fruit of long-term relationships. When you stick around long enough in someone’s life, you end up having the ‘deeper’ conversations; you get the chance to offer genuine help, support and prayer when times are tough; you get to know and care for their kids; you find the right moment to invite them along to church. When people see your ‘weird’ Christian life in 360 degrees, it does start to make them curious. So I try to follow Peter’s advice to ‘always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have’ (1 Peter 3:15).

Last month, a long-held dream of mine came to fruition—a monthly Bible study in my home for women who aren’t able to attend a church-based one. So far, three of the women live in walking distance and I’m hoping that one day more ‘curious’ neighbours will come and join us too.

I fell in love with my town!

The final thing I’ve noticed about my ‘small’ life is that I’ve really grown to love my town—both the place and the people. It’s not flashy—it doesn’t shine and sparkle like the city—but it’s familiar and it’s our home.

Drawing on a similar experience, a Christian friend I work with has started an annual creative competition to celebrate our town and bring the community together (You can see the entries from this year's finalists here, including a short story and song that I wrote to express what I love about the town. I mean every word!)

But the best thing of all about living in a small town—or indeed any place that God puts us—is that it’s full of real people that God has given our family to love in the name of Jesus.

What about you? Who are the people that God has put in your town, suburb or neighbourhood? What are some ways your family could get to know them and ‘shine your light’ before them for the glory of God?

If you have a story to share about your family’s experiences of life and faith, we’d love to hear from you.

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Harriet Connor is the Content Editor for Growing Faith and the editor of Parenting in God's Family: Biblical Wisdom for Everyday Issues. She is the author of Families in God's Plan: 12 Foundational Bible Studies (Youthworks Media, 2021) and Big Picture Parents: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Life (Wipf and Stock, 2017). She lives on the Central Coast of NSW with her husband and four sons.

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