Day 29- Finding Enjoyment With Less

I love the desert.  I don't mind the heat, as long as you don't want me to dig a ditch, and I certainly don't mind that it looks the same for miles and miles and miles.  I love the emptiness.  

 Of course, the desert isn't really empty, there is plenty there if you get out of the car and look around.  I remember the first time I drove across the Texas Panhandle as an adult and all I could think was "There is so much ROOM out here!"  I loved the vastness of it.  When we crossed into Texas, I had to get out and take a picture of the "Welcome To Texas" sign, which I would have posted but that was in the days when there was a thing called "film" and I can't find it right now.  

 Which is why I am currently finding enjoyment with less.  I'm really tired of the conversation that begin with "Do you know where....?"  I'm tired of unpacking an entire drawer or closet to find the one thing I need.  Anyone relate?  We are at that stage of life where we say we can't bring anything new home unless we get rid of something.  But that's hard. 

 I like my stuff.  Some of it is family heirlooms, nothing wildly valuable but rich in memory and meaning.  A lot of it is other peoples heirlooms, which we purchased in garage sales, thrift and antique stores.  Which proves that Solomon was right-

 Eccl 6:2 God gives some people great wealth and honor and everything they could ever want, but then he doesn't give them the chance to enjoy these things. They die, and someone else, even a stranger, ends up enjoying their wealth! 

 Just remember that, when you're coveting something out of your budget. 

 Anyway, we have been downsizing both by moving, and then having people move into and out of and into our house.  Making room for people has made me take a hard look at what I have. What I love.  What I need.  What I need to cut loose.  

 My house will never resemble the emptiness of the Texas landscape, but it's getting a little more wide open in here. Okay, a lot of it is in the roof or in a box. But some of it is leaving, to take up residency in someones else's house.  

 And I like it. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Not Another Hectic Holiday Post

Image
This week my inbox has been flooded with two types of emails-sale ads from retailers and surviving the season posts from blogs that I follow. I'm a little burned out on both types.  First, why do some retailers think you want three emails a day that basically say the same thing? (Loft, I'm looking at you.) I heard you the first time.  Second, after about the third or fourth post, I'm finding that we all are saying the same thing on our blogs.  We're crazy busy with shopping, kids activities and baking We feel guilty that we aren't enjoying the season more Take a minute and remember why we are doing all this-Jesus There, I just saved you from reading ten more posts. Now go bake more cookies!  I kid. In reality, I take a little comfort from the fact that we are all sort of crazy together. I have a couple of friends that start to show some unraveling this time of year and it always makes me feel better because they handle all this kind of crazy much bet
Read more

Still Tasty

I don't know about you, but I hate throwing food away. Not scrapping the plate into the trash when I can't possibly take another bite, I mean taking out a bottle of salad dressing, or leftovers, or box of baking soda and not having any idea if it's still good.  More often than not I throw it away, because here's a fun fact about me-I have essentially no sense of smell.  While you may simply sniff the dressing, I just stare at it.  Here is a new question I've been pondering lately-if tomatoes are in an unrefrigerated bin at the store, why do I put them in the fridge when I get home? My mom puts every vegetable but potatoes in the fridge, as well as the peanut butter, but that's a different blog post.  As the fourth child, my mom didn't explain a lot of kitchen mysteries to me, when I was underfoot in the kitchen she just told me to go read a book instead. That explains a lot of things. So here I am, a late blooming kitchenista, wanting to unlock the hidde
Read more

On Eating and Sleeping

Image
I read a blog post recently that said the worst opening sentence in a blog post was "Sorry I haven't posted for a while." If only you include it in a sentence, does it still count as the worst opening sentence? Except I'm not sorry I haven't posted here for quite some time, because: I've been posting here , and  I've been thinking.  I've been doing other things too, but thinking, and specifically thinking about what I do has been a big part of the last few months. Around the end of every year, I take some time to look back and ask God to give me a report card. As a kid I liked report cards, even though there were usually a couple subjects that looked like the grades belonged on someone else's card and a snarky comment from a teacher (doesn't work up to potential). Yo, math teacher, I spent my whole adult working career doing math, take that. God doesn't make snarky comments when He gives you a report card, so I'm pretty speci
Read more