a simpler life defined

I felt the need to clarify this “theme” I've been writing about and calling “a simpler life.” There are a lot of ways to simplify a life, a lot of ways to look at it. For us, we have a pretty clear idea of what we want that to be for us.

Our goal of “a simpler life” may not appear that way. In fact, some of the goals we have actually seem to make life more complicated, but these are exactly the goals that will take us down the path we want to go.

We want to have a slower life, one more deeply rooted in God, His church, our family, friends, and the nature He created. We want to get back to the basics. For everything to feel simple. For the important things to be in their proper places. 

What may seem simple, may really not be. And what may seem complicated, may really not be. Getting to a simpler life is a process - one that may feel complicated. But the end result is one with more time, peace, and joy. That is, if all is done to the glory of God. It’s about thinking through what we are doing and why. Is it really all that important? Is it good for us, our family, the world, and the future?

We’re ready to live in a way that requires more of ourselves and depends less on society and instead, more on God. One that is more sustainable and intentional. We’re working toward a natural, rhythmic life centered in Christ.

All this is our definition of “a simpler life.” But, to avoid confusion (even for myself - so that I don’t think the way we are going is the only way to live simply - it’s not) I’m going to start referring all of this as “our journey.” After all, we’re all on a journey somewhere. And I’m sharing ours with you. 

Mud Room and Laundry Room

I don't think I have any before or after pictures of pictures of these two rooms, and they're not really that exciting... but here they are anyway!

The Mud Room

What you see when you walk in our back door... meeh.
The basket holds odds and ends to be taken down to the basement.
The stairs are to the left.

What you see as you exit the kitchen. (I need to take the suit to the consignment store!) 

About the two bags on the right: the left bag is our library bag, right bag stores things going to the thrift store. Top basket is for hats and gloves. Middle basket holds things to take to church or my parents or anything else that needs to go somewhere else! The tub on the bottom is for shoes. 

The "Laundry" Room

This room is off the kids' room. In the summer I had two drying racks in here and I hung our laundry up each day. The kids had some toys in there and loved coming in to play. I folded the laundry on the table. It was great! Now I have the racks in the living room and I fold on the floor. :( Before, this whole room was just storing stuff.

I store fabric odds and ends under the table.

These are dorm dressers that came with the house. They look awful in a bedroom, but work great in here!
I store seasonal things, clothes for the kids to grow into, fabric, and baby stuff in these. 

So that's that! I am very hopeful to be sharing the living room with you next week!!! Have a great weekend!

all these things :: november 7

Just an overview of what is current in my life. A snapshot of how I'm trying to give "all these things" to Him and truly seek first His kingdom in my life. 

heart & soul :: As you probably know, I really admire Emily's words, but a couple times now I've been prompted to nurture myself with the lives of the saints and words of the fathers. As right as I knew this was, it took me a while to come around because I feel intimidated. I've read things before, it's not like I haven't. But feeling like my mind is a thin sponge, doesn't incline me to dive into deep writings. Yet, I know that it doesn't matter where I am spiritually or mentally, it's important. So adding to my Scripture reading, I will be reading a life of a saint, and I just picked up Wounded by Love - an old favorite, this morning. May God help me understand! ~ This week the theme of "expectations" has come up a couple times, and so, I'm trying to not have them (the kind that lead to disappointment).

mothering :: By the grace of God, and still from Raising Godly Tomatoes, I am getting my bearings (slowly) at dealing with crying, whining, and back talk/arguing. There's still a lot of work, so I'm trying to stay consistent. One thing I started this week is to involve my daughter in all my chores - it's actually so much fun for both of us! ~ A few magic "tricks" have appeared that have helped tremendously - like a revising a song to make it silly and make my kids laugh until they can barely breathe (this is huge for me - I'm not a funny mama!), phrases that turn an attitude around... things like that. ~ God's really been helping me see my children with grateful eyes and to cherish them even more.

home & kitchen :: I've been enjoying making some favorite soups lately. ~ I re-prioritized the things I want to get done by the end of the year. There were 19 a week ago, and I got five done since then, which feels good. Hopefully I can keep my focus and use my time wisely for these things.

rhythm :: Now that all traveling is done for a few weeks, I'm really looking forward to being home consistently. Call us crazy, but my husband and I have been getting up at 5 am this week. With the kids getting up a little earlier than before (now that the time changed), we needed more morning time. This is so fabulous for me! I get a lot of reading in, work on blog posts or journal writing, and do some blog reading or other internet things as well. In return, I try to stay off the computer in the evening, except to write a few emails, and get to bed a little earlier. It's so soothing to not be blog hopping when I should be settling down. So, I'm really liking it, and not feeling any more tired than normal during the day. Hopefully, it won't get thrown of course too much when I get my wisdom teeth out on the 15th. (I know, not looking forward to that!)

learning & growing :: It occurred to me that I should focus on one simple little goal with my daughter in the school department, instead of hoping to work on something different every day. Now I realize this is so obvious! I guess since I like variety, I thought something different each day would be fun. But I should have remembered that, at this age, they just want repetition (like the same story over and over!). So this week we've been working on number recognition with a simple wooden puzzle - and she loves it!

looking forward to... this whole day. We'll go to breakfast together at the college (their cafeteria is really good - not typical college food), then this afternoon my hubby and I have an afternoon through dinner date which includes shopping and going to a great local burger/beer place. And I'm also looking forward to Friday evening when I get to connect with my friends. :)

Want to share something going on in your heart or home? I'd love to hear!