Finding Enough

As I write this, it's only 4 short days till Christmas. I could post last minute cooking tips or gift ideas but the internet is full of them. So, even though I have loads of ideas for winter posts (stay tuned!) I'm going to stray a little bit from the norm and talk about simplicity. When is life good enough?

A few weeks ago I was thinking about everything I needed to do before Christmas and it felt like I heard God whisper

"Isn't Jesus enough?" 

How incredibly thought provoking. The creator of the universe becomes a lowly human baby in order to teach us about Himself, show us how to live and die for our sins but we feel it isn't enough. We invent stories about fat men in the north pole, spend more and more money on people who already have tons of stuff, and gorge ourselves on sugar. Now, I love Christmas traditions and I'm not saying any of those things are bad, per se. It's just that they stress us out and take our minds off of the things that really matter.

Why am I writing this? Because it's only 4 days till Christmas. Wherever you're at in the planning, know when to call it enough. Jesus is enough. If you possibly can, enjoy some quiet time and decide to call it good enough.

Struggling With Minimalism

In a previous post, I wrote about three principles for affording a country lifestyle. Even as I wrote it, I knew their was a fourth principle I wasn't including because it made me feel like a hypocrite - minimalism. Our society is constantly bombarding us with advertisements and consumerism. We all struggle with wanting more than we can afford.

You can't really afford country living if you're too busy buying everything HGTV, Cosmopolitan Magazine, and your friends say you need, to save up for a down payment on a house. You can't enjoy a house in the country if you're working 80 hours a week to afford it. For the majority of Americans, homestead living is only possible when you embrace minimalism: only buy what you really need, de-clutter your life, and don't be wasteful.

So, why couldn't I just include this in my last post? Because we struggle with it. When I was single, I had no problem pairing stuff down. Saint Francis was my hero. Now I have a fantastic husband who is very sentimental and holds on to lots of things we don't need because they remind him of something or someone. No matter what any one tells you, you can't really adapt a new philosophy to a home if your spouse isn't on board. We're also licensed foster parents so I hoard baby clothes like Hershey bars at a weight watchers convention. Minimalism feels so far out of reach.

Why am I writing this? Partly to finish my last post. I also figure there are a lot of people out there who also love the idea of minimalism but just haven't made it happen yet. What about you? What are some things that keep you from simplifying your stuff? Don't be hard on yourselves, I won't be.