I love caring for my home.
I love creating a “haven” for my husband to come home to at night.
I love working in the yard and my small little garden.
I love cleaning our home as naturally as possible.
I love cooking healthy meals and trying to make my baking a little less horrible for our health.
I love getting a good deal and combining my coupons with sales to save money.
I love teaching and helping students learn.
I love playing my cello and playing on the worship team at church.
I love being a part of a bible study in which I am challenged in my faith and encouraged through fellowship.
I love serving in the nursery and cuddling little ones while their parents are challenged by the sermon.
My life is full – literally. And to be honest, I love it! I would not give up a single one of the things that I listed above. However, with business comes the need for simplicity and time to slow down.
We live in a culture that pushes us to do more, be better, and achieve higher. But I have to stop and ask myself whether that mentality is always right. Sure, it would be awesome to save even more money on groceries. It would be great to be able to serve in more ministries in the church. I’m sure that we could benefit from adding a variety of other nutritious super-foods into our diet.
Those may all be good things but are the the right thing? That’s a question that I have been learning to ask myself. Maybe they are good things but not the right thing for this point in life. Maybe they are good things that should be instantly incorporated into life. Or maybe I should slowly incorporate these changes and allow for my own imperfections and allow myself time to learn. Often times the correct answer is the last one.
This summer, I am seeking to study simplicity. To analyze it from several angles and think about it’s application in my life. I intend to embrace and practice more simplicity in the way that we live our lives and keep our home. It’s time to seek out simplicity and allow for imperfection and a learning curve. I believe that God has called us to a life of simple service and I am seeking his will and design for this area of my life.
Would you like to join me on this journey?
Hmmm…. I’ve been pondering simplicity for a couple years because it is such a buzz word. The same word can be used many ways. I’ve watched some use it as an excuse to cut others out of their lives and live for self (because relationships and serving others is complicated). I’ve watched others use simplifying as a tool to cram even more into their lives (some to good end, others to merely cram more for self in). Why, just last night my husband pointed out the irony of a title in the bookstore: “100 Ways to Simplify.”
I’ve gradually come to the conclusion that simplicity means knowing your priorities and sticking to them. It doesn’t mean time to knit every evening, cooking a certain way, or anything like that (although those things might describe the living out of someone’s priorities and therefore be what simplicity looks like in their life).
For me, top priority is knowing God and bringing Him glory. So everything is submitted to that goal — and ironically, my life doesn’t always look “simple” to outsiders. Sometimes it looks crazy busy and complicated as the Lord stretches me! But when my life revolves around the will and glory of God, it really is simple — because He takes care of it.
Anyway, those are just some of my ponderings on the subject — I’ll look forward to reading how you work out the meaning of simplicity in your life this summer!
I like the idea of having a more simple life. So how do you go about doing it? What will you be doing differently to simplify?
I would love to join you on this journey. I will be honest and I say I have never fully embraced this way of life and I believe it has hindered me in the long run. Take right now for instance, my husband is still searching for a job so I am the sole breadwinner right now and that cuts down on our abilities to do things outside of the home. I would love to be able to slow down, simplify my life and just be. I, for one, have a hard time figuring out how to do this with working full time – leaving the house at 6 am for work and not returning until 5 pm. I look forward to growing on this journey! Thanks for the opportunity, Vanessa!
Count me in!