the journey continues

Happy February!! Some of you, especially from the Great White North, might be wondering what is so happy about February. I'll tell you - winter is still here in full force, yet spring is around the corner; we celebrated our 17 year anniversary (WHAT!!??? I grow more in love with my sidekick as each day passes by - he is such a gift); and God continues to grow me and change me. That doesn't really have to do with February per se, but some of it has happened in February so it has made February "happy".

If you have been reading and following our journey, you will see we have been processing simplicity, and what that means for us as individuals, as parents, and as a family. Some of what it has meant is simplifying our schedule (we have no extra-curricular things on our plate right now, other than volunteering - just "being" is so important for us all!!), and simplifying the clutter (we have continued to give stuff away. The Christie Refugee Welcome Centre in Toronto is always in need of things for families that are looking to start again.). We continually examine how we spend our money so we will spend less, freeing up resources for those that need it. What freedom!!

Then, in the awesome little Thursday evening group I'm a part of, someone recommended reading 7: an experimental mutiny against excess. I am a reader and it sounded intriguing. Plus it was available from our public library. Free reads are even better. Well, talk about being challenged on so many levels, to the core of who I am. I can't stop sharing about this book, and I'm pretty sure everyone is tired of hearing me blab on about it, so I thought I would share about it here so I could process it in community.

Jen Hatmaker, a thirty-something mom of 3 (at that point, now a mom of 5), was encouraged by a friend to do her own social experiment right when she felt God was confronting her with her greed, excess, materialism, consumerism, envy, pride, comfort, insatiability, and irresponsibility. Her social experiment was simple: 7 months, 7 areas, reduced to 7 simple choices. It was a fast for her: an intentional reduction to make room for the important things, to let God do His thing. Jen wanted to repent of some of these things, set an example for her kids, and she wanted to untether from the lie of "more". The 7 areas were food (she only ate 7 foods for the month), clothes (she was allowed 7 articles of clothing for the month), possessions (gave away 7 things her family owned, EVERY DAY), media (no TV, gaming, Facebook/Twitter, iPhone apps, radio, texting, and Internet), waste (7 habits for a greener life: gardening, composting, conserving energy and water, recycling, driving only one car, shopping thrift and second-hand, and buying local for one month), spending (only spent money in 7 places for a month), and stress (she started to take a "Sabbath", a day of rest, and she paused and prayed 7 times per day, based on Seven Sacred Pauses). Some of you are probably thinking this chick is CRAZY, but was this book ever convicting. And God taught her so much.

Here are my own 7 lessons I have learned that have changed how I do life:

1. As Jen learned, no one noticed that she only wore one pair of jeans, 2 t-shirts, 1 long-sleeve shirt, 1 blouse, and 1 pair of capris all month. I can be so wrapped up in what other people think of me, that I quickly lose perspective and start to focus on the outside, when what is on the inside is what impacts everyone around me. NO ONE NOTICED!! 
2. I was challenged to share even more of our things. 2 sets of sheets for our bed? Give 1 to a family that is just starting out. 2 identical measuring cups? Give 1 to a family that is just starting out. A couple of extra towels? Give them to a family that is just starting out. Do we really need 8 plastic plates with matching cups? Nope. Give 4 of each to a family that is just starting out. And the list goes on. Sure, I might experience some inconvenience (like having to hand wash a plate before I was going to run the dishwasher, but really?? I'm going to complain about that??) but the joy of sharing and making a difference in someone else's life far outweigh any inconvenience. 
3. We are going to tackle gardening and canning this summer. Can't beat eating what you grow - keeps it organic, local, and cost-effective!! Hopefully the rabbits will share...
4. I am intentionally resting from sunset Saturday to sunset Sunday. I've never really taken a Sabbath. It's not how I am programmed. I keep looking for more, the next thing to do, under the guise of "being helpful", or "staying ahead of the curve", or "not wanting to let things pile up because then Monday is a gong show". Well, guess what? We have survived 2 Sabbaths, and Mondays have been just fine. It takes a little more planning ahead (like knowing what we are going to eat and having the ingredients on hand, better yet, prepared) but the rest is worth it. Family time. You can't beat it!!
5. I have started to implement the 7 sacred pauses each day and this has been REVOLUTIONARY for me! Okay, my goal is to pause 6 times a day because I am not going to get up at midnight. Sorry! But I have set my alarm for 6 times throughout they day, when I pause, read a little blurb about the pause, read some Scripture that goes along with it (all from the book of Psalms), and I pray. TALK ABOUT GAINING PERSPECTIVE, changing the focus. Starting my day with my focus on God and how I can serve those around me, how He can use me, how I can love those around me - it is healthy. I am intentionally looking for how God can use me throughout my day, inviting the Spirit to lead me, fostering peace in all my relationships, being grateful and thankful (which goes along with the gratitude journal I have been keeping). This is just what the doctor ordered. I feel like I have a new lease on life - and I don't want to waste a day! My eyes and heart are open. 
6. Life in the suburbs might not be the best fit for my family. Considering the environmental cost of commuting, the cost of keeping up 2 cars, the economic ramifications of continually shopping at big box stores, the isolation and perceived "safety" of the 'burbs...an exploration of city life might be in the works. 
7. The American dream isn't what God had in mind for the North American church. We are still acting like we are at a feast, but life is about balance, feast and fast. Where is the fast? Do we think ourselves so superior to the rest of creation that we are willing to deplete the earth to supply our luxuries? Where is the sacrifice for others? Where is the equality? What if all my little purchases do matter? What if we were more interested in justice? What standard is acceptable for my own life? My own family? This is the benchmark for everyone else, which means a decrease in the definition of necessary for us and an increase in the definition of acceptable for everyone else. 

I am 38 (yes, I am 1 year older than the last time I posted something) and am tired of living with my head in the sand. I want to make a difference, which starts with one decision. This one decision starts to impact every other decision that gets made. It becomes the first thing you think about when making a decision. It changes you. What is that decision? The decision to live differently, to make a difference, to not take life and all the things we have in North America for granted, like we deserve them. It is a decision to become focused on others, my neighbours who physically live beside me (hi Darla and Ray!!) and my neighbours who I have never met in South Africa. And do you know what makes this decision even better? Doing it with friends. Who is up for shaking up the status-quo? 

Never the same again,

Tam

October Update

Living simply. I thought I had a good idea what that looked like. I thought I was putting it (somewhat) into practice. I didn't want to get caught up in society's consumerism. I wanted to be generous. But then, this happened.
Then this.
Then a group of women started to meet and discuss what we could do to foster simplicity, peace, generosity. We wanted to do more for AIDS orphans.
Then this happened.
Ziploc bags with cash? Nothing new? Only having 100 things? Let me share what's been happening with the Smith's.

A friend shared an article with me about a movement called "The Compact". This group started in San Francisco in 2006, and the word has spread. These people were fed up with consumerism and waste, and decided to not buy anything new for a whole year. Well, that was 6 years ago and they are still going strong. I began to wonder if I could do that. I'm not a great shopper, and thrift stores around me are mainly of the Value Village variety, but I decided to be very mindful of my shopping habits. If I could find something used, I would buy it over buying new. Which then led to...

The Hole in our Gospel. You can read about that here. A friend who read this post then reached out and asked if a few gals would like to get together to talk about this and applying it to our lives. I was on board right away. I knew we needed to start to live simpler lives. We weren't living beyond our means, accumulating debt. But we were spending more than we needed to be spending. And I knew if we could pare down our monthly budget, we could give more money away. And that is what we have done. Month one, under our belts. We had Ziploc bags labelled for our different budget lines (groceries, entertainment, household, etc.) filled with the cash we were willing to spend. Once the cash was gone, it was gone. We spent about $1500 less than we normally would, by trimming our budget everywhere (groceries, entertainment, investments, etc.). And do you know what? We survived - even with hosting Thanksgiving and Ben eating at home for 3 full weeks, we did it. We said no to some things. We said some things would have to wait. We had great conversations about stuff, needs, and wants. I was eagerly looking ahead to see what was next.

Precious Clement was next, our newest sponsored child. Ro picked her because she was a girl and "girls don't have as many opportunities to go to school", she was Ro's age, and Ro "liked her dress" in the photo. We are thrilled to have another sponsored child from Mposa, Malawi! Then, One Roof.

One Roof was an amazing time of celebration put on by our church, The Meeting House. Thousands gathered at The Powerade Centre in Brampton to sing, dance, and learn of our new mission. It is broken into 3 parts - care, invite, grow. Invite and care really resonated with me. We are aiming to relationally invest $5 million in local and global compassion initiatives. That's what church is to me - living out Jesus' love. What better way than to redistribute some of our wealth!

Then, the same friend who shared about "The Compact", sent me a link to the 100 thing challenge. Phew! The basic gist is you par your belongings down to 100 things. Let's face it. For some of us,  what fills are house are items that aren't required. Testimonials include being more joyful, more thoughtful, and FREE - free from the pull of stuff, free from society's pull to spend, spend, spend. I started by counting how many things I had. I grouped several things together: underwear, socks, and bras (counted as 1 item), make up, face care, bike gear, hair care, books, and hair accessories (6 items). And yes, each piece of jewelry, each article of clothing, each pair of shoes, was counted individually. I ended up at 155, after paring it down from about 180 (I can't remember exactly). Today I went through the girls' items and Vi is sitting around 115 and Ro is around 200. That didn't include the roughly 40 things they hold in common (toy kitchen, dishes, food items, blocks, etc.). Some grouping of items happened with them also. I can't wait to go over the results with them tomorrow and talk about how much we have and how little our sponsored children have (as a comparison) - another great example of "needs" and "wants". I can't wait to see what they choose to give up/give away. What blows my mind is some people count household items in their list too (like bed, pictures, individual books, kitchen table, cars, etc.). We have a long way to go. :)

Next in line is to simplify our family's schedule (I overextended us as I thought Ro was going to be home schooled). Our one commitment wraps up in 3 weeks, the other 3 wrap up the first week of December, and 2 are ongoing but manageable. We are not enrolling the girls in any sports or activities for the winter session. Hear is all sigh a collective sigh of relief...... 

I am so thankful for the lessons that I have been learning. I may be learning these lessons later in life, but I'm so excited to foster a counter-cultural spirit in my daughters so that they are unabashedly generous, loving, compassionate, and difference-makers. 

I'd love to hear what others are doing to simplify. 

Here's to freedom and generosity,
Tam