Ecclesiastes 7:30 JB “God made man simple; man’s complex problems are of his own devising.”
Let’s be clear. No one has ever confused me with Paris or Nicole.
But I do have one thing in common with the bleached blond duo – I’m trying to live a Simpler Life.
Roger and I have been toying with and dancing around the edges of what we want to live without. And then, two big realities hit at once.
- 1. We had more month left at the end of our checks each month.
- We have been feeling a shallowness in our spirits.
We have been so busy running around working for God, that we haven’t had a lot of time to be hanging with God. And let’s be honest, the amount of distractions in my life – almost all self-imposed – have not been helping.
Roger and I are going to be taking some active steps to not only live more simply on the outside, but also to make sure that the actions we are taking are a refection of a growing peace in our inner lives.
We are going to be giving up a lot of stuff, (a list of those will be posted on Tuesday,) but we hope to gain a lot of stuff in the meanwhile:
- More peace
- More connectedness with God
- More family/couple time
- More freedom to help those in need
Am I alone? Do any of you struggle with this desire for a more Christ-centered life? A less chaotic, simpler life? If so, would you be willing to share what your biggest struggle is?
Or maybe you have had some victory in this area. I would love to hear what got you to the place of peace.
Kathi I have to say, you are speaking what the Lord has put on my heart since Christmas time. The Lord has really been wanting me to “cut back” The 1st thing I got rid of was the DVR (worked for TWC for 4 yrs and was spoiled by free cable and all the “gadgets” that go along with the job). I cut back the cable to the cheapest package I could. If I do not catch a show well I can try and catch it online (It rarley happens).
I feel bad that I had the ‘luxuries” while John was deployed but we are trying to get back on track and get the budget down. We are also taking the FPU (Finincail Peace University class by Dave Ramsey) (http://www.daveramsey.com/)
We have successfully completed our first 0 budget month! YEAH! We have also started to just eating out 2 times a month. That has been tough. It started in January again, when I fasted all fast food for the 1st 40 days. There was NO eating out, only 2 times a month would I got to a resturant. During that time I had to learn how to cook and cook well. LOL! My poor kid! In this time it was also great to see my daughter to mimic me with her kitchen and play house.
Now with doing the FPU I have come across E-Mealz! It is an amazing site.( http://e-mealz.com/) Like Dave says it is a NO BRAINER!! You can go there sign up. For 15 dollars for 3 months you get 7 meals to cook. You also get a SHOPPING LIST!!! It makes you try new foods and really simple reciepes. Plus you don’t have think of a shopping list, you just have think about lunch and breakfast (they are easy). Hope this helps you and others…
It is so fitting that you decided to write about this subject. Last week my husband and I, along with our mentor couple from church, had this intense conversation about living within the means that our magnificent Lord has supplied us. Basically, we decided that there are some major changes that we were going to have to make. My husband makes a good living as a CHP officer and I am a stay at home mom. We have a beautiful home, but not extravagant in any way. We just recently moved and we are just discovering the costs of living here in our new home. We just paid cash for the landscaping for our front yard ($15,000). Needless to say that drained our savings account and now we have nothing to fall back on. Due to this reason, we asked our mentor couple to help us see our finances in a way that is pleasing and honoring to God and help us create a budget that is achievable and livable. Keep in mind when we moved in January, we already cut back our budget. We cancelled our unlimited car washes, cut the programming back to only local channels on our TV, only eat out 1/2 the time we used to, did our grocery shopping at Super Target (not the store I love to shop at), and saved on gas by not taking any extra trips around town. We thought that was all we could do…we thought that was all that could be done. Now keep in mind that we were not tithing during this time because we just barely making it to the end of the month. Where was our faith in God? Were we demonstrating behavior that was honoring Him? No. Our mentor couple pointed out to us that there is a lot more we could do and here is what we are planning on cutting back now: we are selling our 2 jet skis and the jet ski trailer, we are also selling our 31′ trailer that we use to go camping with our children, we are also not sending our 2 year old daughter to private preschool next year. I was a teacher in San Jose, so I am going to take that responsibility on. The best thing we are getting rid of is our TV. My husband and I have realized that the programs we watch are not wholesome and are not pleasing to God. It has hindered our communication so much that we stopped talking to each other when the TV was on (which was all the time). Of all the things that we are giving up I know the rewards will far outweigh the sacrifice. Just in the last few days that we have not had the TV on, my husband and I are spending time in the Word. We didn’t do that before because some show was on that we wanted to watch. Now, nothing is standing in our way of each of us growing in Christ individually as we grow closer together as a couple.
Thanks for taking the time to read about the blessings that we are receiving as we decide to put God first and strip away all the things that hinder us from fully being committed to Him.
In His Light,
Valerie
I just came over from Marla’s blog, and wow, this resonates with me right now. I am so ready to be done with my addiction to “stuff”. I would say that our biggest challenge is keeping our priorities straight. We decided to build a house 2 years ago (still in the process)…ran into some major snags and it has literally consumed our life. It has become our #1 priority and we are exhausted in every way (finances,emotional, spiritual). God is faithful and I know he will see us through….but I often ask myself why we decided to build; I would love to continue to live in our little 70 yo farmhouse (we are in now) with the leaky windows and creaky doors and just have a simple life.
Can’t wait to hear more!!
I do not think you have to give up _ _ _ but replace those time takers and energy zappers with more peaceful/connected time with those you love including GOD. Our mind can not make a neg image… but our thoughts can sure come up with a few. When I think of cutting back and giving up something, I find myself going to God’s throne with dissatisfaction. However, when I choose to thank God in advance for what he will be giving me in place of what I currently have…. I can proceed with more peace and contentment….and expecting the transition to be a blessing. I know it sounds like I am pulling the religious card answer from SS…. but we are just coming out of a storm… where all I had was HIS PROMISES and the ability to trust him. (not lean on my own strength)
Our house is always busy and active, like you much self imposed. In trying to make it simplier I keep trying to “declutter” but I’m not sure it is working as yard sale season has arrived! My first thought after reading the title~What are you willing to do without?~ is EVERYTHING! Let me take the kids and camping stuff and head to the woods for awhile. Life is slower and God is EVERYWHERE, and the phones/computer/tv (as much as I love them) are all left at home!! This is a great time for me to reonnect with the family, and spend time getting to know my God again! {But I have to admit my second thought of “What are you willing to do without?” was ~~ LAUNDRY!!}
I am enjoying following your fb and blogs! Thanks so very much for being willing to share. Your thoughts/idea make me stop and think/define or redfine who I am and who God wants me to be!! Keep up the good work!
Hurray for you!! Much is expected of people that are willing to put themselves out there, as you do, but your cup can’t overflow if you don’t keep it full. Your being sensitive and willing to be obedient to the Holy Spirit’s prodding is encouraging. I will be praying for you and Your Hubby. My suggestion is to schedule (yes, write it on your calendar) a specific “meeting” time with the Lord each day and be there as if it were the most important meeting of the day, because it is! Peace to you.
“The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”
Zephaniah 3:17
In my case, life got simpler not through choices, but through illnesses and job loss. When I became physically unable to keep doing all that I was doing before, and then didn’t have the income to continue the consumer lifestyle, we learned how God still provides what we NEED, but not always what we WANT. Also, it’s so much easier to seek God with all your heart when you’re in pain and desparate for his comfort and peace. Now that things are more settled, it’s the discipline I learned in the rougher times of daily quiet time that helps keep me going to him and growing in him.
Hi Kathi,
I thought I’d make a Sunday visit to one of my favorite blogs and there you are on Ecclesiastes. After hanging out with Ecclesiastes for about six years, I can’t help but have a certain affinity for it! 🙂
What a wonderful post and reminder for us all – that we make choices about how we spend our time on plant earth. We can either spend the time we need to seek His face and gain strength from our walk with Him or we can sabotage our own lives by filling it with that which could never take His place. They may not be bad things…but they’re not the best things.
I needed that reminder today, my sister! Great post!
This is almost so simple I hesitate to share it (I’d like it to be something more profound), but something that has helped me is to take walks with hubby and dog. Whether short or long, morning or evening, on dirt or sidewalk, talking or not, none of it seems to matter. What matters is the outside time, being together, and the dog. It’s magic.