Downsizing

In our "more is more...and still not enough" culture, I'm finding it increasingly satisfying to go against the grain.

When we first bought our house, five and a half years ago, we had a 1 year old with another baby on the way.

We "settled", out of desperation for a 1500 square foot, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house in desperate need of...everything.  My thought?  Two years, three years tops and we'll be on to bigger, better, newer things.

I sometimes get the feeling that the more I plan out of entitlement, self-righteousness and indignation, the Lord laughs.

Four babies later, we're still in the same house and have made it into what it is...a cozy, cramped box that we call home and have no plans to change any time soon.

We have three boys in one room with the fourth to be in there soon.  All four share one dresser and one closet.  Our "formal dining" (as if there could be such a thing in a house full of boys!) is the game room/school room.
I constantly go though and dejunk, give away, and condense.  Because, really, what I am clinging so closely to?  Like they care to see the outfit they went home from the hospital in (I might lean a bit on the non-sentimental side...).

The things I don't need right now might be the things somebody is desperately needing.  I've found the freedom in letting go of my "what if I need this in a few months" thoughts (by way of lovely, God-fearing women who love me with all my faults) and realized the Lord plans and provides perfectly.

In the last few weeks, we've watch one family move to Taiwan (three kids), another family start their journey to India (four kids) and another run head long to Haiti (this included moving to a 700 square foot house with their three kids).
Each on a different path with one goal: untangling themselves from the cares of this world to glorify the name of a Blessed Redeemer.

Godly, lovely families that I watch and glean from their examples.  Women I want to emulate in teaching my boys that God is far-flung to all the corners of the earth and our little slice of pie is not all there is.

I want to be a giver, not a taker.  I want to leave this life with nothing but a legacy of loving God with all my heart, mind and strength.

So I start small, one closet at a time, one box of toys at a time opening my hands to let go so I might receive what truly matters.

1 Timothy 6:17-19  As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be genreous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they make take hold of that which is truly life.