Less Means More

How many times does God show us what He wants us to do but we do not pay attention? How many times does a topic keep coming up around us and we think “wow, I have heard so much about this lately?” Maybe we need to realize it is God trying to get our attention. Within the past month He has done this with me; trying to get my attention on a certain topic.

Simplify and thanksgiving.

We live in a world where we are surrounded with convenience and busyness. We can get caught up in our schedules and become overwhelmed. Then we find ourselves saying we do not have enough time in our days. Next thing we know we are dreading our daily lives because we have a sense of obligation to everything on our schedule. Finally, when this occurs we do not have a feeling of thanksgiving. We have a feeling of obligations.

Last year God convicted me of our schedule outside our home. I sat down, looked at our schedule and decided what to keep and what not to keep. Now our schedule consists of our homeschool co-op, church, and karate for the blessings. Our homeschool co-op meets twice a month, church is twice a week, and karate we attend about three times a week. At times I feel God leading me to take a rest and focus more on caring for our home and family. Then I will cut out karate for a week. Times do occur where we receive an invite for a birthday party or some other event. I then look at our schedule and determine if we need to eliminate something for that week. I try to keep our schedule balanced.

Two days a week I tend to schedule nothing. Sunday and Friday. Sunday is our day of rest. We attend church and then spend the rest of the day at home. This allows us to rest for the upcoming week. Friday evening is our night where we cook pizza and watch a movie or television show together. It is our night to unwind from the past week. These are the two days we look forward too. If an event occurs on these two days then I find a day during the week that we take as our day of rest. God rested after He created the world and He tells us in His Word we need to rest. So we feel it is important to have a day of rest.

 

I have felt that our schedule is simplified and nothing else needs to be worked on. Then He tells me otherwise. Many areas in our lives we can simplify not just our schedules. We can simplify within our homes. I know we have a lot of stuff. Trust me when I say it is stuff. I have already started to plan on what we can remove from our home so we do not have much clutter. Especially with the upcoming holidays we can accumulate more stuff. I already know one goal that I will be working on next year. Simplifying our home. I have a good friend of mine who is awesome at simplifying her home. When something new comes in something old goes out. I wish she still lived here so she can teach me her ways.

We can simplify many areas in our life. Our lists can vary from one person to another. One person may spend too much time on the computer while another does not even go on the computer. If you feel you need to simplify areas in your life, pray and ask Him what needs to be simplified. Then with an open heart and open mind listen to what He says. He may call you to simplify certain areas you are not ready to simplify, but remember He has reasons.

I have found when I simplify areas in my life I become more thankful. I feel the fog that once surrounded me has been lifted and I can now see. I am not overwhelmed with stuff. Not just tangible stuff but also intangible stuff. My heart is full of joy and thanksgiving rather than worry and feeling overwhelmed. I am less distracted.

The biggest eye opener to me for simplifying is it allows me more time with Him.

 More time with Him, more family time, more joy, more thanksgiving?

Yes, more simplifying for me, please!  

831. Family time

832. Cooler weather

833. More of Him

834. Less distractions

835. Morning coffee

836. Remembering His blessings for me

837. Counting my blessings

838. Weight lost so far

839. Working dishwasher

840. Crock-pot meals