Oh, my. At the beginning of the year I said "I'll have a simplicity experiment every week this year and blog about it." This is not the first time I've made such a commitment. And it's not the first time I've failed at it. You would think I would learn. I just keep thinking, "This time it will be different!" Guess what? Not different.
So, my simplicity practice for the past.... four weeks.... is to let go of another failure. This particular failure is about a commitment to blog. But more broadly, letting go of failures is central to simplicity.
If I'm living in simplicity, I will fail. I will fail at:
1. Getting a new set of hubcaps for my car. Our car discards hubcaps like yesterday's Kleenex. Seriously, they never last more than a few months. We replaced them for a while - or, more accurately, a generous car dealership replaced them for free when we took the car in for an oil change. When they were gone again at the next oil change, I think the dealership gave up on us. Because we are choosing to live in simplicity, I will proudly not buy hubcaps. Which means I will also fail at...
2. Actually being okay with not buying hubcaps for my car. I know it's a waste of money. I know it's pointless and truly not a big deal. But still, every time I see another 2006 Toyota Corolla I check to see if that one also has the hubcap flaw. If I see bare wheels, I feel better about myself (See? They don't have hubcaps either! I'm okay!). If there are hubcaps, I feel the need to imagine that driver's life as one of endless hubcap replacements - that silly person! If they were as smart as me, they would proudly drive sans hubcaps! Oy.
3. My to-do lists. I will do my best to not overcommit myself, and I will screw it up. And then my to-do lists will be far too long and by the time I get to some of the things on them, they will be ancient history, and I'll cross them off because now they're pointless. And then I'll have to either tell someone I failed, or hope they don't notice. My blog will sit in silence for a month. I will fail.
4. Being everyone else. That person can exercise, and keep their house clean, and do a great job at work, and sleep, and spend time with friends, and keep up on the news, and, and, and. That person wrote a blog post literally days after she gave birth. And for all the sentiments that that person is not me, and I have things to give that are valuable that nobody else can give, and I don't know how much that person struggles - those sentiments are just hard to believe sometimes. Often. But if I'm living in simplicity, I will fail - utterly - to be that person. I'll fail at even tricking myself or others into thinking I'm that person.
Actually, none of these failures are there because I'm trying to live in simplicity. I would be failing at all this stuff whether I was seeking simplicity or not. Perhaps if someday I find true simplicity, that will mean that I've learned to accept these failures as valuable and good. Here's hoping.
Right now, at least I can accept that these failures are certain. And even though they still bother me, I know that God's vision of me is not one of failures. That's good enough for now.
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Thursday, March 26, 2015
On Unsubscribing
Simplicity, Week 8: Unsubscribing
This week I've been simplifying my inbox. I've been actually opening every piece of mail, deciding whether I want to keep getting that particular update, sales pitch, newsletter, blog, and on and on and on.... and then, very often, scrolling to the bottom and clicking "Unsubscribe." I'm getting closer to only being subscribed to mailing lists I actually want to and will read.
I didn't realize that unsubscribing was simplifying at first. I just got tired of pushing "Delete" twelve times a day on junk email. But in talking with some friends yesterday, I realized that it didn't just clear out the junk from my inbox. It cleared my mind somewhat, too. I no longer need to feel guilty for not reading that newsletter that I've never, ever read. Many of the newsletters I was getting were intentionally trying to make me angry - I suppose as a way of getting me to open them, getting me to take action, getting my attention. But I don't need to deal with that anymore.
Hitting "Unsubscribe" gives me just a twinge of guilt each time: I know that real people put real effort into the material that they email me a dozen times each day. I know (or at least I think) that for some of the political material, just a name on a mailing list actually does make a bit of a difference, even if I don't open the email. But guess what? Nobody has called me to say, "You're ruining my life by getting off our mailing list." Nobody has called me to say, "You're failing to make a difference in the world by getting off our mailing list." Actually, I don't think it makes a bit of difference to them, and it's quite foolish for me to think that it does.
The other foolish thing has been that all of a sudden, my inbox feels very empty. It's ridiculous, but it makes me feel less important, less essential. Doesn't anyone have anything to say to me? I think, when the inbox is empty again. As though the primary measure of my importance is anything except that I am a child of God. And not only that, but it was clearly a false sense of importance, if I was measuring it based on the number of junk emails I had to delete every day. What a stupid illusion.
So, here's to unsubscribing - which, for me, has also meant getting rid of a few more illusions and focusing on what actually is. That's what simplicity does - gets rid of those illusions and brings reality to light. Praise God!
This week I've been simplifying my inbox. I've been actually opening every piece of mail, deciding whether I want to keep getting that particular update, sales pitch, newsletter, blog, and on and on and on.... and then, very often, scrolling to the bottom and clicking "Unsubscribe." I'm getting closer to only being subscribed to mailing lists I actually want to and will read.
I didn't realize that unsubscribing was simplifying at first. I just got tired of pushing "Delete" twelve times a day on junk email. But in talking with some friends yesterday, I realized that it didn't just clear out the junk from my inbox. It cleared my mind somewhat, too. I no longer need to feel guilty for not reading that newsletter that I've never, ever read. Many of the newsletters I was getting were intentionally trying to make me angry - I suppose as a way of getting me to open them, getting me to take action, getting my attention. But I don't need to deal with that anymore.
Hitting "Unsubscribe" gives me just a twinge of guilt each time: I know that real people put real effort into the material that they email me a dozen times each day. I know (or at least I think) that for some of the political material, just a name on a mailing list actually does make a bit of a difference, even if I don't open the email. But guess what? Nobody has called me to say, "You're ruining my life by getting off our mailing list." Nobody has called me to say, "You're failing to make a difference in the world by getting off our mailing list." Actually, I don't think it makes a bit of difference to them, and it's quite foolish for me to think that it does.
The other foolish thing has been that all of a sudden, my inbox feels very empty. It's ridiculous, but it makes me feel less important, less essential. Doesn't anyone have anything to say to me? I think, when the inbox is empty again. As though the primary measure of my importance is anything except that I am a child of God. And not only that, but it was clearly a false sense of importance, if I was measuring it based on the number of junk emails I had to delete every day. What a stupid illusion.
So, here's to unsubscribing - which, for me, has also meant getting rid of a few more illusions and focusing on what actually is. That's what simplicity does - gets rid of those illusions and brings reality to light. Praise God!
Thursday, March 19, 2015
5 Things We Learned from the SNAP Challenge
Simplicity, Week 7: SNAP Challenge
Last week, Erik and I took a step I didn't expect. We tried out the SNAP challenge. SNAP is what many of us know as food stamps - it stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The challenge is to experience what life is like for our brothers and sisters living on an average daily allowance of $4.15 per person per day. Years ago, we actually did live on a similar budget, but with this difference: We knew we were in college and life would not always be like that. Also, it's been a while since we lived that life, so last week was quite an experience.
Here are some things we learned last week:
1. Read the instructions...
...before you take the challenge (not after, like us). We thought it was $4.00 per person per day (it's actually $4.15), and I assure you that the extra 30 cents a day - 15 cents for each of us - would have made a difference. We also didn't know that we should avoid accepting free food; it's part of my job to eat with folks and that often happens for free, but we would have been more prepared for that if we had read the instructions first.
2. Meat is expensive.
We always knew that, but our meal of spaghetti with hamburger cost over $1.50 per person per meal. Most of our other meals were between 50-75 cents per person per meal.
3. Breakfast is expensive.
Erik eats cereal and I eat fruit, yogurt, and a hard boiled egg. Both meals cost over $1.00 per person per meal. I skipped the coffee that week, and part of me really regrets that; coffee functions as a very mild anti-anxiety medicine for me.
4. There is abundance in communities.
Here's our list of free food from last week:
-We received lunch on Sunday from the church (it was a fundraiser, and we may not have taken sandwiches had we not been able to donate; I'm not sure if that was quite within the rules or not, and we didn't count our donation as part of the food budget.)
-We received dinner on Sunday from my parents - a long-standing tradition that is really wonderful for a pastor family.
-I received lunch on Tuesday at a church potluck (to which I didn't contribute).
-Wednesday was my mom's birthday and we went to dinner with my parents. They insist on paying for those things even when we're not taking the SNAP challenge.
-Thursday dinner was another one at church - this one rotates between families providing dinner, and it wasn't our week.
By this time, we were feeling a little foolish and like we weren't getting the full sense of the challenge. I'm sure we weren't. But this also meant that on Friday evening, we got to invite friends over for dinner, which we paid for (within the SNAP budget). It wasn't a full repayment for all we had received, but it was a wonderful opportunity to pass along the abundance we had experienced - and we wouldn't have been able to do that if we had paid for every one of the other meals.
I don't know how this does or doesn't reflect the life of those living within the SNAP budget, but it drove home for me the reality that life is truly more abundant when we live it together.
5. The margins are very small.
Our budget for the week was $56. We rationed Girl Scout cookies (25 cents for one Samoa or two Thin Mints). I rationed fruit snacks - which normally keep me going at work. I had to eat out once because I was traveling, and I worried because my Taco Bell lunch cost $2.19 instead of our established budget of $2.00.
At the end of the week, we had over $6 to spare. We were amazed! That was not how we expected to end the week. Our big celebration? A few more Girl Scout cookies each.
I'm grateful for the experience, and grateful that it was only a week. And I hope we can keep working to make sure everyone has enough.
Simplicity, Week 8: Honesty
Simplicity in speech is about being honest; being honest even when it's hard; being honest even when it's painful. It's following Jesus, who said, "Let your yes mean yes, and your no mean no" (Matthew 5:37). That's what I'm committing to, starting this week, but certainly not ending this week.
Last week, Erik and I took a step I didn't expect. We tried out the SNAP challenge. SNAP is what many of us know as food stamps - it stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The challenge is to experience what life is like for our brothers and sisters living on an average daily allowance of $4.15 per person per day. Years ago, we actually did live on a similar budget, but with this difference: We knew we were in college and life would not always be like that. Also, it's been a while since we lived that life, so last week was quite an experience.
Here are some things we learned last week:
1. Read the instructions...
...before you take the challenge (not after, like us). We thought it was $4.00 per person per day (it's actually $4.15), and I assure you that the extra 30 cents a day - 15 cents for each of us - would have made a difference. We also didn't know that we should avoid accepting free food; it's part of my job to eat with folks and that often happens for free, but we would have been more prepared for that if we had read the instructions first.
2. Meat is expensive.
We always knew that, but our meal of spaghetti with hamburger cost over $1.50 per person per meal. Most of our other meals were between 50-75 cents per person per meal.
3. Breakfast is expensive.
Erik eats cereal and I eat fruit, yogurt, and a hard boiled egg. Both meals cost over $1.00 per person per meal. I skipped the coffee that week, and part of me really regrets that; coffee functions as a very mild anti-anxiety medicine for me.
4. There is abundance in communities.
Here's our list of free food from last week:
-We received lunch on Sunday from the church (it was a fundraiser, and we may not have taken sandwiches had we not been able to donate; I'm not sure if that was quite within the rules or not, and we didn't count our donation as part of the food budget.)
-We received dinner on Sunday from my parents - a long-standing tradition that is really wonderful for a pastor family.
-I received lunch on Tuesday at a church potluck (to which I didn't contribute).
-Wednesday was my mom's birthday and we went to dinner with my parents. They insist on paying for those things even when we're not taking the SNAP challenge.
-Thursday dinner was another one at church - this one rotates between families providing dinner, and it wasn't our week.
By this time, we were feeling a little foolish and like we weren't getting the full sense of the challenge. I'm sure we weren't. But this also meant that on Friday evening, we got to invite friends over for dinner, which we paid for (within the SNAP budget). It wasn't a full repayment for all we had received, but it was a wonderful opportunity to pass along the abundance we had experienced - and we wouldn't have been able to do that if we had paid for every one of the other meals.
I don't know how this does or doesn't reflect the life of those living within the SNAP budget, but it drove home for me the reality that life is truly more abundant when we live it together.
5. The margins are very small.
Our budget for the week was $56. We rationed Girl Scout cookies (25 cents for one Samoa or two Thin Mints). I rationed fruit snacks - which normally keep me going at work. I had to eat out once because I was traveling, and I worried because my Taco Bell lunch cost $2.19 instead of our established budget of $2.00.
At the end of the week, we had over $6 to spare. We were amazed! That was not how we expected to end the week. Our big celebration? A few more Girl Scout cookies each.
I'm grateful for the experience, and grateful that it was only a week. And I hope we can keep working to make sure everyone has enough.
Simplicity, Week 8: Honesty
Simplicity in speech is about being honest; being honest even when it's hard; being honest even when it's painful. It's following Jesus, who said, "Let your yes mean yes, and your no mean no" (Matthew 5:37). That's what I'm committing to, starting this week, but certainly not ending this week.
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Simplicity, Weeks 5 & 6: Lent Adjustments...
Things never go quite the way they were planned. For instance, the work of the Holy Spirit (this borrowed from maryhomegirl.tumblr.com):
If an expert does not have some problem to vex him, he is unhappy!
If a philosopher's teaching is never attacked, she pines away!
If critics have no one on whom to exercise their spite, they are unhappy.
All such people are prisoners in the world of objects.
How the Holy Spirit works in our lives: Usually unseen...
But sometimes just barely glimpsed:
Unexpected, unplanned.
And so here's my unexpected simplicity story at this point.
Week 5: Lent Adjustments
I planned to fast (from food) for 24 hours each week during Lent, and donate the money. But... things don't always work out the way we plan.
It's become clear that God is not calling me to fast from food right now. I feel weird about that because I've just asked our congregation to try fasting. Weird or not, though, this is my call right now.
But practicing some sort of fasting during Lent is important to me. It's a way to remember that this is a special time, a time set apart from the rest of the year. It's a way to remind me that even right now as I'm sitting at my computer, the Holy Spirit is probably dancing behind me.
So instead of fasting from food, I'll be fasting from television on the Sabbath each week (thanks Austin for the idea). So far I'm LOVING it. I like watching TV, I love the stories and I love the creativity, and I love imagining a different world a little bit at a time. But it's easy to get sucked in. So during Lent, on Fridays, no TV. Sometimes simplicity means getting rid of the extra noise, allowing ourselves to enter the (somewhat scary) spaces of quiet. The spaces that we normally fill by turning to a screen.
Week 6: The Active Life
If you're counting, you know that I didn't post last week. I was discerning the whole Lent thing and didn't find my way until the end of the week, so I decided to do two posts in one this week.
This week's practice is reading The Active Life by Parker Palmer. We're reading it for one of the groups at church, and I've rarely found a book that holds these two things together so well:
- It is amazingly encouraging and uplifting. It's a book that says: you can do it, simply trust your gifts and the grace of God. (Simplicity doesn't necessarily mean doing less stuff, but doing the things that are most central to who you are and to your calling from God. This book encourages that.)
- I believe it.
I believe it because it looks at the shadow side of our actions - the motivations that come from fear and shame and seeking after power. It moves into and through those darker motivations and desires - not to say that we shouldn't act, but to help us be more free (and simple) in our actions. It's not just encouraging - it's encouraging and honest, and so I believe the encouragement.
For instance, Palmer uses the poem "Active Life" by Chaung Tzu to explore the shadow side of acting. Here's the poem:
"Active Life" (as quoted in The Active Life by Parker Palmer)
If an expert does not have some problem to vex him, he is unhappy!
If a philosopher's teaching is never attacked, she pines away!
If critics have no one on whom to exercise their spite, they are unhappy.
All such people are prisoners in the world of objects.
He who wants followers, seeks political power.
She who wants reputation, holds an office.
The strong man looks for weights to lift.
The brave woman looks for an emergency in which she can show bravery.
The swordsman wants a battle in which he can swing his sword.
People past their prime prefer a dignified retirement, in which they may seem profound.
People experienced in law seek difficult cases to extend the application of laws.
Liturgists and musicians like festivals in which they parade their ceremonious talents.
The benevolent, the dutiful, are always looking for chances to display virtue.
She who wants reputation, holds an office.
The strong man looks for weights to lift.
The brave woman looks for an emergency in which she can show bravery.
The swordsman wants a battle in which he can swing his sword.
People past their prime prefer a dignified retirement, in which they may seem profound.
People experienced in law seek difficult cases to extend the application of laws.
Liturgists and musicians like festivals in which they parade their ceremonious talents.
The benevolent, the dutiful, are always looking for chances to display virtue.
Where would the gardener be if there were no more weeds?
What would become of business without a market of fools?
Where would the masses be if there were no pretext for getting jammed together and making noise?
What would become of labor if there were no superfluous objects to be made?
Produce! Get results! Make money! Make friends! Make changes!
Or you will die of despair!
What would become of business without a market of fools?
Where would the masses be if there were no pretext for getting jammed together and making noise?
What would become of labor if there were no superfluous objects to be made?
Produce! Get results! Make money! Make friends! Make changes!
Or you will die of despair!
Those who are caught in the machinery of power take no joy except in activity and change - the whirring of the machine! Whenever an occasion for action presents itself, they are compelled to act; they cannot help themselves. They are inexorably moved, like the machine of which they are a part. Prisoners in the world of objects, they have no choice but to submit to the demands of the matter! They are pressed down and crushed by external forces, fashion, the market, events, public opinion. Never in a whole lifetime do they recover their right mind! The active life! What a pity!
This comes pretty early in the book. Doesn't it make you curious - how could a book that encourages, that celebrates, that recognizes the value of an active life, include this poem? Palmer's writing admits the truth in this poem, and still comes to a place that values right action, action that flows from the center of who we are, that flows from who we are created and called to be. That's another way of describing simplicity: Simplicity is acting out of the center of who we are. Simplicity is acting out of who we are created and called to be. Though the word "simplicity" isn't prominent in this book, the book is about simplicity.
So I'm going to read this book... and then maybe read it again. And maybe again. I may keep reading this book all year. It's one of the best books I've ever read, and it's a book I need to keep coming back to.
How is God calling you to simplify your life?
Happy simplifying!
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Simplicity, Week 4: Lent Begins
I like to eat. I'm constantly hungry. Sometimes I'm in the middle of eating dinner and I think, "I'm so hungry, I can't wait for dinner. Oh, right, here it is."
I've tried fasting three times in my life. The first time was as a teenager, for the 30-Hour Famine, a fundraiser for ministries around the world supporting those in hunger. It didn't work out at all - I got dizzy and grumpy and it was awful. The second time I was a youth leader, again doing the 30-Hour Famine. I couldn't even get myself to do it as a good example for the youth.
Then, last year during Lent, I tried it again - one day (not 30 hours, just 24). It was fantastic. I was so aware of God's presence and love. I was so aware of how much I depend on God. I was hungry, yes, but that hunger was just a constant reminder, saying, God is here, God is here, God is here. I understood Jesus saying that we don't live by bread alone. It was truly one of the greatest days of my life.
I wanted to try it again, but just haven't gotten around to it. God is leading me to it now, as something to practice during Lent: I'm going to fast one day each week. Erik and I are also going to decrease our weekly discretionary cash by 10% (since I'm skipping a couple of meals), and we're going to give away whatever we don't spend, and also that extra 10%, each week.
As it happens, I'm in the middle of the first day of fasting right now.
I'm in a very different place than I was a year ago, and this has been a bit of a rough week. Not great fodder for fasting. Yesterday at dinner time I almost quit - before even really starting. I'm hungry. I'm a little bit grumpy. So far, this 24 hours of fasting is not having the same effect that it did last year.
But, well, that's part of the process. That's part of the gift. When Jesus went into the desert for 40 days and fasted, of course there were times when he was hungry, when he was grumpy, there were times when it was not great. But with time, it was transformative.
So today, I'm praying for transformation. I'm praying that with time, this practice that has been used by Christians for centuries will again bring me closer to God. I'm praying that I can again experience hunger not just as something to endure, but as a reminder that I do not live on bread alone, as a tangible, physical reminder of God's presence and love.
What are you doing to observe Lent? When we really enter into this season of simplicity, repentance, generosity, and yes, fasting, then when Easter comes, we get to see the miracle with open eyes - we get to see that it really is a miracle. So how are you entering this season?
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Simplicity, Week 3: Fruits of the Spirit
This week as I prayed for guidance about simplicity, I was reminded of something I found myself saying on Sunday during the sermon: I don't have much patience.
And, as I said on Sunday, simplicity is patient.
I don't like feeling like I'm giving away my moments, my seconds and minutes and hours, because someone else wasn't ready, or wasn't prepared, or made a mistake - even though there are countless, countless times when someone else is the one waiting for me, because I wasn't ready, I wasn't prepared, I made a mistake. I want them to be patient with me, but at the same time I think that my time is somehow too valuable to be patient with someone else.
Which, of course, is foolish, arrogant, and just puts me in a bad mood. And it's not living in simplicity. Simplicity holds the gift of time lightly, gratefully but without having to grab at every second. Simplicity is happy to give time away when it's right and good.
So as I prayed for guidance about simplicity, I found God guiding me to a practice of remembering and considering the Fruits of the Spirit (from Galatians 5) - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Patience is in there, but it's helpful for me that patience isn't there all by itself. It's a part of living in simple love for those around me.
Today I printed up a few copies of the Fruits of the Spirit. I'm going to put one in my office, one on the bathroom mirror so that as I'm getting ready for the day, I can get my heart ready too. I've got a couple of other places in mind as well.
What is Simplicity?
This past Sunday in church we explored a working definition of simplicity: "A way of living in which everything we have we receive as a gift, everything we have is cared for by God, and everything we have is available to others when it is right and good" (Richard J. Foster, Freedom of Simplicity). Click here for more information, including a fun word search! Click here for some practices you might try related to simplicity.
And, as I said on Sunday, simplicity is patient.
I don't like feeling like I'm giving away my moments, my seconds and minutes and hours, because someone else wasn't ready, or wasn't prepared, or made a mistake - even though there are countless, countless times when someone else is the one waiting for me, because I wasn't ready, I wasn't prepared, I made a mistake. I want them to be patient with me, but at the same time I think that my time is somehow too valuable to be patient with someone else.
Which, of course, is foolish, arrogant, and just puts me in a bad mood. And it's not living in simplicity. Simplicity holds the gift of time lightly, gratefully but without having to grab at every second. Simplicity is happy to give time away when it's right and good.
So as I prayed for guidance about simplicity, I found God guiding me to a practice of remembering and considering the Fruits of the Spirit (from Galatians 5) - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Patience is in there, but it's helpful for me that patience isn't there all by itself. It's a part of living in simple love for those around me.
Today I printed up a few copies of the Fruits of the Spirit. I'm going to put one in my office, one on the bathroom mirror so that as I'm getting ready for the day, I can get my heart ready too. I've got a couple of other places in mind as well.
What is Simplicity?
This past Sunday in church we explored a working definition of simplicity: "A way of living in which everything we have we receive as a gift, everything we have is cared for by God, and everything we have is available to others when it is right and good" (Richard J. Foster, Freedom of Simplicity). Click here for more information, including a fun word search! Click here for some practices you might try related to simplicity.
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
52 (or at least 49) Weeks of Simplicity
This year our church has found itself called to explore simplicity. One of the main ways that we learn is by doing - and then reflecting. So that's what I'm going to do. Each week, I'll choose some practice around simplicity to try out. It may be something I decide to try for only one week, just to see how it goes, or it may be something I decide to incorporate into my life for (at least) the rest of 2015. And each week, I'll post here what I'm trying out, as well as what I've been learning from previous experiments.
As many of you know, the first few weeks of this year were very, very simple for me, but not by choice. I had shingles and pretty much didn't leave the house for two weeks. One of those weeks was planned as vacation (don't worry, I still got lots of vacation before that), but the other one was unplanned. That week was a lesson in how well the world can do without me. It turns out that one week without Rachon is not life-changing for just about anyone. I did actually know that before - in fact, that's why I was able to take that second week off without worrying too much. But it's still helpful to be reminded. That's not to say that it didn't matter at all; there were one or two places where things would have happened differently, and I know that being gone for one week is not the same as being gone forever. Still, it was quite an experience.
We'll be thinking about that in church one of these weeks coming up - why do we need to feel indispensable? How do we complicate our lives by trying to make ourselves indispensable? What's the balance between What we do matters and There are limits to how much what we do matters?
That experience is why I didn't start this weekly experiment at the beginning of the year (and why the title of this blog is 49 weeks, rather than 52, of simplicity).
Here are the two experiments I've started (one last week, and one this week):
Last Week: 2 Days of Weekend
Coming off this experience of what happens when I'm gone for a week, I decided that this year I'm going to be pretty intentional about taking two days off each week. I've always been very intentional about one day off as a Sabbath, but lately I've been pretty loose about the second day. Sometimes it's been half a day here and half a day there. Sometimes it's been just half a day, or not even that.
And then I saw something on Facebook: a pastor who I respect very much said that she takes two days off every week. Every week! I thought. Wow! It sounded so great. I love, love my job, but I recognize that I get a little resentful if it feels like I'm working all the time. I get jealous of people who get two- or even three-day weekends. And that's not how I want to be. Plus, that's not how I believe a pastor offers their best leadership. Pastors who are working all the time are setting up systems that rely too much on themselves, and those systems are unsustainable.
So this year I'll be taking Mondays and Fridays off. This is already a bit of a challenge because there are recurring meetings and groups that happen on Mondays that I'm pretty committed to. At this point I'm okay with one (or at most two, back-to-back) short meeting on Mondays... we'll see how that goes and if it still feels like a day off. So far, so good.
This Week: Switching to Cash
This week, my husband Erik and I are switching to cash for all of our food and entertainment spending - basically all of our discretionary spending. We're not trying to limit that spending right now - we've given ourselves a pretty generous allowance per week. At this point, it's not about trying to change our spending habits, but about trying to be aware of them. We used to budget carefully, but over time we lost that habit and none of our efforts to recover it have worked out. We're careful about how we spend, so we always end up staying within our income, but we need to re-learn just how much we are spending. Only after learning that can we make a good decision about what we want to be spending, what we're called to be spending.
I keep finding myself wanting to jump ahead and limit the spending, or start putting aside money for a special trip, something like that. And I keep reminding myself: One step at a time. Every time we've tried to make some kind of dramatic and far-reaching change in our habits all at once, it's fallen apart very, very quickly. So, one step at a time. Right now, just awareness. I'll keep you posted on how it goes!
How are you practicing simplicity? How are you experimenting with it? Share here, or on the church's Facebook page, or on the bulletin board at church!
Don't forget to subscribe to the blog - just put your email address in the bar on the right. Happy simplifying!
As many of you know, the first few weeks of this year were very, very simple for me, but not by choice. I had shingles and pretty much didn't leave the house for two weeks. One of those weeks was planned as vacation (don't worry, I still got lots of vacation before that), but the other one was unplanned. That week was a lesson in how well the world can do without me. It turns out that one week without Rachon is not life-changing for just about anyone. I did actually know that before - in fact, that's why I was able to take that second week off without worrying too much. But it's still helpful to be reminded. That's not to say that it didn't matter at all; there were one or two places where things would have happened differently, and I know that being gone for one week is not the same as being gone forever. Still, it was quite an experience.
We'll be thinking about that in church one of these weeks coming up - why do we need to feel indispensable? How do we complicate our lives by trying to make ourselves indispensable? What's the balance between What we do matters and There are limits to how much what we do matters?
That experience is why I didn't start this weekly experiment at the beginning of the year (and why the title of this blog is 49 weeks, rather than 52, of simplicity).
Here are the two experiments I've started (one last week, and one this week):
Last Week: 2 Days of Weekend
Coming off this experience of what happens when I'm gone for a week, I decided that this year I'm going to be pretty intentional about taking two days off each week. I've always been very intentional about one day off as a Sabbath, but lately I've been pretty loose about the second day. Sometimes it's been half a day here and half a day there. Sometimes it's been just half a day, or not even that.
And then I saw something on Facebook: a pastor who I respect very much said that she takes two days off every week. Every week! I thought. Wow! It sounded so great. I love, love my job, but I recognize that I get a little resentful if it feels like I'm working all the time. I get jealous of people who get two- or even three-day weekends. And that's not how I want to be. Plus, that's not how I believe a pastor offers their best leadership. Pastors who are working all the time are setting up systems that rely too much on themselves, and those systems are unsustainable.
So this year I'll be taking Mondays and Fridays off. This is already a bit of a challenge because there are recurring meetings and groups that happen on Mondays that I'm pretty committed to. At this point I'm okay with one (or at most two, back-to-back) short meeting on Mondays... we'll see how that goes and if it still feels like a day off. So far, so good.
This Week: Switching to Cash
This week, my husband Erik and I are switching to cash for all of our food and entertainment spending - basically all of our discretionary spending. We're not trying to limit that spending right now - we've given ourselves a pretty generous allowance per week. At this point, it's not about trying to change our spending habits, but about trying to be aware of them. We used to budget carefully, but over time we lost that habit and none of our efforts to recover it have worked out. We're careful about how we spend, so we always end up staying within our income, but we need to re-learn just how much we are spending. Only after learning that can we make a good decision about what we want to be spending, what we're called to be spending.
I keep finding myself wanting to jump ahead and limit the spending, or start putting aside money for a special trip, something like that. And I keep reminding myself: One step at a time. Every time we've tried to make some kind of dramatic and far-reaching change in our habits all at once, it's fallen apart very, very quickly. So, one step at a time. Right now, just awareness. I'll keep you posted on how it goes!
How are you practicing simplicity? How are you experimenting with it? Share here, or on the church's Facebook page, or on the bulletin board at church!
Don't forget to subscribe to the blog - just put your email address in the bar on the right. Happy simplifying!
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