The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. ~Hans Hofmann
This is one of my favorite simple living quotes, but one of the hardest for me to follow.
I find so many good things that I want to read, do, create, and so forth. It is easy to get bogged down with good things, even in my spiritual life. Chapter 1 of my newest read, Radical Together, titled Tyranny of the Good, addresses this very issue. It states, "One of the worst enemies of Christians can be good things in the church." I can so relate to this right now.
Spring is always a busy time of year for my family-
The garden demands daily watering and weeding.
We are working to finish up the year's homeschool stuff (though year-round learning is in the works for us).
There is a seemingly unending schedule of holidays and celebrations to plan for, attend, serve at, etc.
All good things, but after a while I find myself becoming increasingly stressed and ready to hide out in a very quiet cave for a month or so, something that sounds very tempting about now ... which tells me it is time to elminate some good things so I can joyfully enter into those that are best for me and mine.
This is never an easy task, but a necessary one.
Over the next few days I will be prayerfully taking an inventory of all the good things on my family's to-do list, evaluating each one, and asking which need to go so that there will be time and space for us to fully enjoy His best things for us.
How do you evaluate and elimate even good things in order to simplify your life?
More thoughts on this topic in this post.
For more Letter E Alphabe-Thursday fun, visit Jenny Matlock!
This is one of my favorite simple living quotes, but one of the hardest for me to follow.
I find so many good things that I want to read, do, create, and so forth. It is easy to get bogged down with good things, even in my spiritual life. Chapter 1 of my newest read, Radical Together, titled Tyranny of the Good, addresses this very issue. It states, "One of the worst enemies of Christians can be good things in the church." I can so relate to this right now.
Spring is always a busy time of year for my family-
The garden demands daily watering and weeding.
We are working to finish up the year's homeschool stuff (though year-round learning is in the works for us).
There is a seemingly unending schedule of holidays and celebrations to plan for, attend, serve at, etc.
All good things, but after a while I find myself becoming increasingly stressed and ready to hide out in a very quiet cave for a month or so, something that sounds very tempting about now ... which tells me it is time to elminate some good things so I can joyfully enter into those that are best for me and mine.
This is never an easy task, but a necessary one.
Over the next few days I will be prayerfully taking an inventory of all the good things on my family's to-do list, evaluating each one, and asking which need to go so that there will be time and space for us to fully enjoy His best things for us.
How do you evaluate and elimate even good things in order to simplify your life?
More thoughts on this topic in this post.
For more Letter E Alphabe-Thursday fun, visit Jenny Matlock!
So very, very true. And I think spring is the worst season for days of "too much." We've had so much rain & a couple of unseasonably late frosts that we are JUST getting our little kitchen/herb garden out this week. Terrible ~ makes me worry that things won't grow as they should...but we'll see, won't we?
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, since I had to return to work about 14 months ago, we have been "forced" to miss out of things that we would have done before ~ namely, homeschool graduations/open houses. Makes me feel a little guilty b/c I was the county homeschool coordinator for 11 yrs & watched so many of these kids being born & raised, many family friends. But I can't do what I can't do.
So, we really try to concentrate on the important & necessary in "seasons" like this.
Blessings from Ohio...Kim<><
I have become selfish in this regard in my older years. I say 'no' a lot more. I go lay down when I need to. It's hard to recognize I can't do everything I once did, but I always have room for the Grands and my husband.
ReplyDeleteThis is a hard one, but I figure if it's left buried in a closet somewhere for what seems like an eternity and you don't even miss it, then that's a sign to get rid of it for sure. Best of luck to you!
ReplyDeleteGreat ‘E’ post! Happy Alphabe-Thursday!
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend ahead,
LOLA:)
Alphabe-Thursday
We've been in the same sort of place at our house. Especially in regard to counting down the last days of the homeschool year... (oh, how funny that they still haven't figured out that the textbooks are only so we have something to put on paper, but the real "school" is what we do for the rest of the day!)
ReplyDeleteWe just recently decided to not schedule more than 2-3 things per day. it's been better.
~Catherine
I am working on eliminating clutter. We have too much of everything.
ReplyDelete