Simplicity

Sweetheart and I were talking a few weeks ago on one of those rare weekend afternoons when the boys were both napping at the same time. We started talking about how much we love one another, the boys, and our lives in general. Yet, we were both troubled and worn out with trying to deal with all the stuff in our lives.

Since I quit teaching to stay home, our schedules have definitely lightened up. I am no longer running around around the clock. It's great. We really simplified that area of our lives.

However, over the years the amount of things in our home has only increased. It wasn't such a big deal when it was just us living here. We had the main living areas, plus the unfinished basement, a guest room, a loft for Sweetheart's office, and an extra bedroom for my office/craft room.

Well, we changed the guest room to the nursery and combined my office with the new guest room. Then we had someone else move in for a few months, which eliminated that room. So all my stuff landed in the basement. Then I got that room back for awhile, which was nice, but we were left with all that person's stuff as well. Guess we'll store her stuff in the basement. Next, we needed my room for Pumpkin as Dumpling was on the way. We rearranged the loft to move all my stuff into it along with all the stuff Sweetheart had in there, which was a lot already. More stuff to the basement.

Instead of getting rid of things along the way, we just got more tubs to put it all in. Well, there became no more room for tubs. We were constantly shoving tubs all around to get to the things we wanted.

We won't talk about the garage. That's a real sore spot.

Anyway, here we are after being married almost ten years. Two people who no longer own stuff, but are owned by our stuff. It's ridiculous! And it is all coming between us.

It was a wonderful conversation. Hard, but needed. There are a lot of emotions tied to the things. Crazy, isn't it? My hardest thing is to part with stuff other people have given me. I don't want to hurt their feelings. Or, good memories are attached to things.

Sweetheart's dilemma is more about the cost of things and what they are worth. He's bought a lot of stuff over the years to resale. What he has been able to sell he usually makes money off of. Sometimes a lot of money, but not everything sells, at least not quickly. Or, not as quickly as his wife would like.

Well, we decided we no longer want to live like this. We don't want the boys to grow up thinking that they should hold on to everything and that hoarding things is ok. Plus, we want to have room to enjoy the things we have. We want to have more free time, not wasting time fixing things, selling things or buying things, just because.

So, we had the first big purge just before Christmas. Now, Salvation Army is swinging on by tomorrow for more. There's still a ways to go, but we're making progress.

That conversation became a whole life evaluation. I'd been getting all of these emails telling me to boycott this store for this reason, that store for another reason. Often, if I wanted to follow all the emails they would have just cancelled each other out! What a mess.

Yes, I want to be conscientious about where we spend our money. I don't want to be supporting corporations that give money to causes I am utterly opposed to. Over the years we have stopped buying a lot of products for that very reason. It's hard to know a lot of times who is supporting what, but we've tried to pay attention.

Well, we're still discussing what to do about all of that mess and don't have a lot of answers yet. One of the things that we are doing is trying to just buy less overall. Over the next few months, we will be researching more about different companies and be making more changes I'm sure.

As we talked about what to buy and not buy the conversation turned to the types of things we use around the house. Since becoming pregnant the first time, I have changed my mind about the cleaners that I use regularly. The smells of all the chemical cleaners have really bothered me since I was first pregnant. I've tried a few different things along the way, but really haven't figured out a good solution. Switching to some of the Mrs. Meyer's Cleaners has helped, but there are still a lot of chemicals we use everyday, almost without thinking.

I've been researching alternative cleaners online and have found some good recipes out there that I've started substituting. I'm pleased with what I've changed so far, but hope to eradicate the rest of them over the next few months as well. Some things I'm using up, some I'm just throwing out. Did you know you can make your own dishwashing detergents and laundry detergents? I'll probably be posting directions as I try more things out, if anyone is interested.

And what about all the chemicals in our personal care products? You should have seen the huge bag of stuff I tossed just from under my bathroom cabinet. Really, how many bottles of hair products do I need? My hair always looks the same no matter what I put on it, so why not just use the simplest stuff? Once those things are gone, I might not even replace them.

Well, since the chemicals are on their way out, what about the food we eat? I make most things for scratch, but really, what is all that junk in the meat we buy? Do I want to eat stuff that contains ingredients I can't even pronounce? No. So, I'm buying more natural meats now. I'll let you know how tomorrow night's bison meat turns out!

I'm searching for a local farm/CSA to join, too. We're also planning to better utilize our garden and back yard starting this spring for our own organic fruits and vegetables. We were circleling items as a wish list in the gardening catalog last night at dinnertime. It's time to start composting, too.

It's been interesting with the just changes we've started making already. Living simply, isn't so simple any more. Hopefully, once we figure out how to make/get the things we need it will get easier. Some of these things are interesting though, as so many of the "natural" things are brands that support some things we don't want to have any part of. It's not as easy as I'd hoped. We're not giving up though, since we've just begun this new journey.

The cost of the organic foods is a lot higher than regular, but hopefully, since I'm buying less junk, the costs will end up the same overall. Plus, I've spent a lot on cleaners for the home and on personal care products and most of the do it yourself recipes are actually a lot cheaper.
I wrote in my Everything Book my goals the other day:

*Honor Christ--above all!
*Live Simply
*Be Healthy
*Be Wise Financially

Breaking it down looked like this:

For Me:
Devote more time to studying Christ's words and incorparating them into my daily life.
Love others more; be a better wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend.

For Home:
More natural cleaners, soaps and personal products
Make what we can
More natural foods-organic, not processed, locally grown

I'll Need To:
Get up early for devotions
Begin exercising again
Change shopping habits
Garden and compost
Learn to preserve foods
Get a grain mill
Learn to sew
Research creating the things we need

***
I've been thinking to myself that I'd rather be known for what I am for, not what I am against.

I am for reaching out to others, for showing Christ's love, for serving.

I am for loving my family and expressing that love through our home.

I want to be a wise steward of all that I have been blessed with.

I want to take care of the body I have been given, to strengthen it for the work I have been given.

I want to raise children to love the Lord and those around them, not to be sucked up into the unthinking consumerism that surrounds us everyday.

I want to love.

I want to sleep.

(I just looked at the clock and realized that it's passed my bedtime. Blessings to you all!)