Why Minimalism?

If you've followed me much here or on Twitter or Facebook, you know that I am actively pursuing a more minimalist lifestyle.  I read blogs and books that encourage more simple living and making conscious choices to assist my family in living a less chaotic life.

It's possible that some folks may think that I have allowed my pursuit of simplicity to overshadow my faith and walk with the Great Love, my Father.  But that could not be less true.  You see, I see the two as inherently connected.  In my journey, the one cannot go without the Other.

Life is hectic.  And often crazy and mostly chaotic.  Work and kids and schedules and house and yard and activities and weekends and...and...and...
More often than not, we spend entirely too much time simply running from one thing to the next on autopilot.

^^^
This is what I am trying to abandon in my life.  That chaos negatively affect my daily peace, my energy, my relationships with my family and loved ones, and my relationship with the Father.  You, too, may find yourself spending more time than you care to admit simply surviving from one moment/activity/event to the next.

Is your kitchen a disaster?
Do you have more than one 'junk drawer'?
Do you have a location where all mail/bills get dumped that is overflowing in papers and clutter?
Do you have a pile of clean and/or dirty laundry waiting to be addressed at all times?
Let's go further...
Do you have books you've never read or have read multiple times just taking up space?
Do you still have toys/clothes from your children's younger years that they do not/cannot use? 
Do you still have clothes in your own closet you never wear?

These are only a few examples.  But here is my point:
Any and everything like this that takes away from my time with my children and the Father is time wasted.  So, I began to simplify.  Eliminate.  Clean out.

I got weary of my time being so wasted.

I am not 'there' yet.  I am not where I desire to be.  But I am getting there. Since I began this journey around 2 years ago, I find that cleaning up, putting away, straightening up takes significantly less time than it used to.  One tip I've heard often is to spend a little time cleaning up each day so that things don't pile up.  I want to take it a step further.  Eliminating the majority of the 'junk' around my house has automatically shaved hours off of my clean up time.  There's less to clean up.  It is that simple.

How often do you feel guilty for sitting and relaxing with your favorite steamy beverage because you have 'so much to do'?  If you eliminate part of your 'to do' list, you have more time...
To rest
To breathe
To meditate
To pray

For me, this movement toward simplicity and minimalism has been a movement to live a more purposeful life.  I make more conscious decisions about what we do and when.  I also am more keenly aware of the god of 'stuff' that this culture has bowed in reverence to for far too long.  Eliminating more and more 'stuff' from my possession has freed me to focus on the worship the Creator of all things rather than the things themselves.

Like I said, I am still finding my way.  Having a few full-time job has presented new challenges along the way.  But God provides assistance along the way when I need it.

The bottom line is I am done with the auto-pilot life.  Sometimes that means throwing something away.  Sometimes that means saying "No."  Sometimes that means doing things differently than others around me and getting funny looks along the way.

And I am totally ok with that.
It's not the first time and surely won't be the last.
;)