On Slowing Down and Simplifying

In my last post I mentioned that God is taking me on a journey of slowing down, simplifying and decluttering. And ya'll. It has been so. good. to. my. soul. By default, I am a natural busy bee who can work herself into sheer exhaustion. My calendar fills up quickly, and any spare time I have in my day is quickly filled with something that I feel needs to be done in order to be more productive. I also try to be everything to everyone. In a nutshell I try to do way too much. I' m also the type that is never in the moment because I am always thinking of the next stage of my life. When I went to college I thought about graduation and getting into my career. When I was dating Toby I thought about engagement and marriage. Then purchasing our dream house. Then babies. Then it will be when the babies are older. Then it will our kids getting married. And retiring. And grandbabies. And the next thing I know I am thinking

omgosh, I can't believe I am already 80 years old!

This happens constantly until I remind myself that it's still 2016, I am still in my early 20's, and I don't need to rush through life.

Lara Casey said two things that has really been helping me on this journey and what I use as a constant reminder when I get off of track:

Stop the glorification of busy.

And

Stop chasing perfect.

Can I get an amen for that?! Those have been two of my biggest issues!As one who used to pride herself on being busy, I am learning that I don't actually gain positive from being so busy that I miss out on much of my daily life. All I really gain is missed precious, important moments. And when I say busy, I am talking about my tendency to try to do all, be all, and gain this level of perfection that in all honesty will never come.

So I am making the change. I choose to be fully present. I want to focus on what really matters and soak all of it in. I want to soak in the days where it's just Toby and I in our little family. I want to soak in the group dinners, and prayer requests, and the little things that make up the daily part of my life.  When I actually slow down and clear my mind, I can hear Christ more, I can love well, and I can be the best me.

When I stop chasing perfection and learn to be content, I notice that I don't need all the things. All the things tend to make me work harder to buy and maintain them. All the things tend to drive me to try to keep up with the Jones' or whoever. Enough of that. I've already begun to make a change by beginning to be content with what God has already blessed me with, and I began to get rid of a lot of stuff we don't need in our home. Reading up on minimalism has definitely been helpful with this aspect of my journey, although I am not aspiring to become a minimalist. But learning to live more minimally is helping me to focus on what really matters in life.

We only have so much time on this earth before we stand before God. I want to stand before Him knowing that I wasn't too busy to really tend to what He placed before me. I don't want to get to the end of my life and realize that I was too busy to pray or sow a seed into someone's life, or to just sit at the Father's feet and have an intimate relationship with Him. I don't want to get to the end of my life being surrounded by all of the stuff I've accumulated, yet with what really matters.

This is definitely a journey, and an imperfect one at that, but I'm learning to find the beauty in it! I can't wait to continue to share all that the Lord is teaching me through this!

Any of you feeling the call to slow down and simplify?