Living Simply vs. Simply Living

Do you live simply or are you simply living? Good question to ask many people today.... I guess what has me really asking this is a commercial I saw on the TV the other day.... it was an insurance commercial saying wherever you are in life we will be there with you, but how they brought about that message was...... a young business woman in a airport working away at her laptop.... she looks up into the camera and says something along the line of .... where my email inbox is out of control and I have not had a break since 3rd grade.... yeah, I'm there..... That just really hit me as being on of the saddest commercials I had ever seen..... sad because I know there are soooo many people out there living that life. They are so busy 'grabbing life by the horns' so to speak that they are really missing out on so much of life. Their life is just passing by in one big blur..... will they have any breathtaking life moments to look back upon and really say I lived life to the fullest? Oh, I have been there.... getting up rushing out to a job I really started not liking..... being in a rush to get all done in the afternoons.... rushing through a store bought dinner, the crazy mad dash through the kids homework, baths and bedtimes.... not enjoying any part of the day at all..... where is the living in that????

Now, I'm not saying we don't still have a few crazy days around here..... there are gonna be a few of those from time to time ,..... but I"m talking about learning to go back to a "back to basics" kinda life..... I mean do we really NEED to have our children involved in 5 different sports/dance/karate/afterschool programs and any of the many other things we can find for them to stay busy..... aren't we just teaching them to become so overrun with busyness that they will only see their life in a blur one day too?

I don't want my life or the life of any of my family to be like this.... we are learning to live more simply.... enjoy the little things in life.... and God has really blessed us with lots of help on this..... at least when you look at things from a blessings point of view..... let me explain:

For years Eric has suffered from migraines..... and in the last few years working at his previous employer they had only gotten much, much worse.... so much so that the employer had asked him to see a specialist... so he did.... yes, he does have true, very real migraines said the specialist... and had treated him with some different medications... but nothing was really helping... the migraines were getting worse.... and so much so that the employer let Eric go from the job he had held for many years..... now, most people would look at that and say ..... where is the blessing in all of that..... well, being off of work gave Eric the time he really needed to rejuvenate his body. ........ it lead us back here from where we had moved away..... and Eric now is in a job that is only about 5 minutes from home...... and is home early enough in the afternoons that he is able to enjoy time with us. I am still able to be at home, and one of the best things is...... Eric's migraines have all but gone away..... where he was having 5 or more a month..... he has only had a handful in the past year!!!!

Saying all of that ...... yes, Eric took a paycut with this new job.... we do struggle financially but we are looking into ways to make it work. Perhaps a small home business or a part time job perhaps.... we are waiting to see what God leads us to..... but we also have a new home we are living in.... we have a great support system of family and friends. And we feel that in our simple lifestyle God has blessed us so very abundantly.!!!!!

Living simply does in no way mean to forgo everything...... but it does mean to simplify your life so that you do have time to count your blessings..... and to see the blessings come where you least expect them.


Pro 10:22 (NLT) The blessing of the LORD makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.