This past year to year and a half, the Lord has led me to live a more simple life. It has truly been a God-given goal of mine to simplify and has driven many of the choices Jesse and I have made together. The decision to stop working and to homeschool. The decision to start saying no to many more “good” things presented to us, but in the end, steal our time and joy away.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s important to balance our faith with works, but many of the things we say “yes” to doing have not been taken to the Lord with prayer and wisdom. Along that train of thought, do you really have to be involved in one more worthy ministry? Or is your time better spent giving one ministry your very best?
Does your kid really need to be in every sport? Do we really need to have the latest and greatest? Or can we make do? You see where I’m going with this.
I’m grateful to live in an area where a slower lifestyle is overall embraced. Farming and agriculture definitely is a hard-driven line of work but balanced well, it can also offer plenty of opportunities to include your family.
In 1 Thessalonians 4:11, Paul says “Aspire to live quietly and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you.”
There is just something about learning to be content and embracing a simple life that truly cultivates joy.
So maybe take a moment today and evaluate your lifestyle. Are you making room for a time where you don’t have to do anything but just be with your family? Or just for yourself? I surely hope you do. Don’t fall into the trap of being too busy! There’s a time for all things, including rest.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 can sum it up well for us:
“To everything, there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot what is planted; a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to break down and a time to build up; a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to gain and a time to lose; a time to keep and a time to sew; a time to keep silence and a time to speak; a time to love and a time to hate; a time of way and a time of peace.”
-Meg
