SIMPLICITY OF ACTIVITY

Q. I feel pressured by time. The more pressured I feel the more stressed I become. My friends seem to be able to relax and enjoy life yet still keep their homes in order, feed their families, have a career and even do volunteer work. Why can’t I? How can I learn to not feel so pressured by time?

A. Many of your friends may feel as pressured as you do. Busyness and “hurry sickness” is epidemic in our culture. Studies show that the average American sleeps two and a half hours less and works ten hours more than those of fifty years ago. The many technological advances which we enjoy - computers, TVs, cell phones, DVDs, access to others via e-mail, vast amounts of information on the Internet, and an array of labor saving devices create more complexity in our lives than ever before. 

         

Even our cell phones take our time and attention. We are intrigued with the games, distracted by messages coming in and hooked on the latest Facebook post. All of these activities cut into family time, sleep time, restful time. Every new technology changes the way we live. 

         

We long for simplicity yet we enjoy the luxuries we have. As a result we live in constant overdrive. We pride ourselves on being able to “multi-task” - which means we try to do two or three things at once. Our culture has convinced us that “down time” is wasted. Most disturbingly, when we feel such time pressure we may see our family members and friends as obstacles that slow us down rather than as the loves of our life; the people who care for us and will always be there for us. Our hurried world glorifies productivity and even workaholism as the price of achieving our ambitions. As a result our relationships suffer and our health and well being suffer.

         

So what is the answer? How can you solve your problem of time pressure and hurry sickness? We all need to examine our priorities and decide what’s really important in life. We need to realize we can’t do everything. We need to set boundaries on our time based on our priorities.

         

We should be able to work hard and yet still have time to play with our children, eat meals as a family, take naps, read a book, get enough sleep. We need to trim our schedules to make time for rest and relaxation. We can turn off our phones during dinner - or even beyond! We can reduce the number of activities in which we and our children are involved. We can learn to say no.

         

Our attitudes, beliefs and thoughts can contribute to feeling pressured by time. Are your expectations of yourself too ambitious? Pare them down. Don’t rush, breath deeply, relax. Think positively and realistically about what you can accomplish. Let go of perfectionistic expectations. 

         

Carve out some alone time for prayer. Use routine activities, such as your morning shower, a coffee break or a lunch hour alone as times to pray rather than as times to worry. Take your mind off work and express gratitude for the blessings in your life. Exercise times can also be used for times of solitude and relaxation. 

         

Take time off. Purposely waste time. Enjoy your weekends. Take vacations. Hurrying through each day is less rewarding than slowing down and accomplishing less. You will feel better, your family will be happier and your immune system will improve. 

         

For more ideas on how to simplify your activities check out one or two of these books: When the Game is Over It All GoesBack in the Box by John Ortberg, Simplify Your Life byH. Norman Wright, Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey, and Margins by Richard A. Swenson. 

Blessings, Dottie

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Romans 12:2 NLT

God’s Will, Change and Letting Go of Stuff

God surprised us this year! Our life has changed dramatically. My husband and I just began a new chapter in our life. After living in family homes all our life we have moved to a retirement community. This is a surprising and unexpected decision as we’d always said we wanted to live in our home ‘til the end of our life. I wrote a book called Changing Churches published in 2012. Now I could write a book called Changing Houses! 

We had not thought of moving, yet I prayed in my journal on January 1, 2017 “Father, let me live more simply in the coming year.” Also on January 10th I wrote “Let me know what you want me to do at this point in my life. Guide me in getting rid of stuff and in leaning on you.”  Be careful what you pray for!

The decision to move had to be God inspired as we made the decision out of the blue and both of us felt good about it. (Most of the time.)

Well, if you decide to go into a retirement community you HAVE to get rid of stuff big time. So for the last four months – from April 21 to August 31^st we got rid of 50% of our belongings. This is no exaggeration. It has been quite an interesting process of letting go. And it has mostly felt good.

Of course I let go of clothes that no longer fit me properly. Why do we delay this when we have lots of closet space? We weeded out every category of belonging. It never occurred to me before this that we didn’t need four or five casserole dishes, or we didn’t need to keep a set of 36 glasses we never really liked. It never occurred to me we didn’t need ten individual wooden salad bowls when we only used them when eating alone.

I was surprised to realize how much stuff we had. For example we had 15 lamps and used them all in our former house. We let go of four of these (our new house has fewer windows so we still need many lamps). We also had twelve small rugs to wipe your feet on at entries. We kept six.

Some adaptation is required with any change and especially when you move to a new home. Usually a new place is arranged differently. Well, I discovered the new place has only two drawers in the kitchen. My former kitchen has eleven drawers!! So…I’ve had to adapt. I made sewing kit out of a very sturdy box and things fit in their perfectly! Similarly, I made First Aid kit to hold band aids, gause, ointments,and so forth using a sturdy I-Pad box.  

I enjoyed giving away things that we could not take with us. I had friends over for lunch and gave away several vases and two pitchers. Another friend is now enjoying my Precious Moments figures. We provided some furniture for our grandchildren’s college apartments, and for our daughter and a missionary couple. And a neighbor loved a pair of my pajamas and my ivy plants growing in water. It felt great to have someone else enjoy the use of these items. Good Will also received many items from us!

We no longer need so much stuff, nor do we need such a big space. We have used our house to entertain and to help a few people over the years – using all the finished basement space for wedding party guests twice and for storing missionary furniture. We are so glad we could do this.

God led us to our last house and blessed us with it. I’m convinced he led us to our current home and we already feel blessed to be here. It is especially freeing to me as the detail person in the family. I have so much less to take care of now. I can be more relaxed and more involved with others. I believe that’s what God wants for now.

Blessings, Dottie

“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it.’” Isaiah 30:21 NIV

Books on Money and Materialism

Money is a difficult subject in today’s world, but a very important one especially for Christians who want to honor God. We live in a materialistic world with quick credit. It’s easy to get into debt and often hard to resist the many “things” we are tempted to buy. Also expenses are high for housing, for college, and for all the “necessary” things to live a good life. The two books reviewed below will help you sort out your own priorities. They will challenge you to think about how you spend your money and how you value your things. They will even help you change your ways!

Money, Possessions and Eternity

By Randy Alcorn

This is an outstanding, well written, comprehensive book clearly explaining biblical truths about money and possessions and clearly exploring the materialism of our culture. Why does the title include “eternity?” Randy Alcorn says “our use of money and possessions is a decisive statement of our eternal values. What we do with our money loudly affirms which kingdom we belong to.” pg. xv  He focuses on the eternal implications throughout the book and says in the introduction that “There is something in this book to offend everyone.” pg. xvi

Money, Possessions and Eternity is 421 pages long and in addition contains practical appendices and a study guide. Alcorn addresses how to manage our money, the importance of giving and giving more than ever, how to set priorities, and how to avoid hoarding. This is a book I will read over and over again.

Seven: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess

By Jen Hatmaker

Jen Hatmaker designed an experiment to address greed, materialism and indulgence in our culture. The author’s emphasis is on protecting the environment and helping others in need. She and her family and friends limited themselves in 7 areas – one each month. For example, they agreed to wear only seven articles of clothing (not counting underwear) for one month. The other areas were food, possessions, media, waste, spending, and stress. Yes, she and her husband ate only seven foods in month number one. 

Hatmaker details their plans and their successes and failures at limiting their way of life. She also details the learning they derived from each month long experiment. The book held my interest, it’s well written, with humor. The chapter on stress is excellent and offered a way to practice being still – with prayer seven times a day. This book seemed somewhat contrived – yet is worth reading.

“Don’t worry about things, Saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”  Matthew 6:31-33 NLT

Blessings, Dottie