Living simply, chasing dreams
I have a hard time allowing myself the luxury of impractical thoughts. I squash them before they have the tiniest chance to ferment and grow into something. Until this summer, during all my time on the porch, I hadn’t even realized this is something I do. It’s a wretched habit. I’m slowly teaching myself to let those thoughts and dreams stay a while, so that I can take time to figure out where they’re coming from and what parts of them are potentially possible or worth working towards.
It’s not just BIG dreams I squash; it’s anything remotely outside the life I’m living — which is a bit crazy, if you think about it. After all, I’ve already made some big out-of-the-box life decisions. Like adopting a teenager from foster care, then adopting two more kids a few years later. We’re certainly not the only family to do that, but it’s not the norm. For that matter, neither is homeschooling. So what am I afraid of?
Am I living my life, or letting it drag me along for the ride?
If you read my “word” for this year, it’s all about learning to make the most of the time. Making intentional choices day by day. There is no magic bullet for dramatic life change; it’s a culmination of little decisions adding up.
Intentional living: necessary for dream-chasing.
If we hope to make life changes and work towards big goals, we need to weed out the unnecessary and give ourselves wiggle room to figure out how to alter course. This is something I’m trying to do, but it seems there are few examples to follow, and I’m a girl who likes examples.
I’ve had my eye on Notes from a Blue Bike
As hoped, Notes from a Blue Bike provided me some of those real-life examples I like so much.
After returning from several years living overseas in a far simpler life, Tsh and her family immediately fell back into the American way of doing things. Tsh knew she couldn’t recreate their previous life in their new location, so she narrowed down the specific areas that needed a better focus. She devotes a section to each of these topics in the book, with how the family chose to address them. For her, these key areas were: food; work; education; travel; and entertainment. My list might be somewhat different (I haven’t sat down to organize them like that – yet), but I like how she broke these issues down and analyzed them to make changes based on her family’s priorities and goal, rather than the culture norm.
Will I do everything Tsh did? No, of course not, because that wouldn’t be evaluating choices based on the unique needs of my family in light of our dreams. But she’s given me good food for thought.
Living simply > bigger + better.
A large part of my big dream, and part of the road to other dreams, is living simply. Ken and I have discussed this backwards and forwards. It’s crazy how hard it is to simplify in any big way because it’s so counter-cultural to where we live. Sometimes I feel like I need to huddle up at home, sheltering myself from the lure of bigger and better. Of course that isn’t practical and not at all conducive to relationships with real people, so I rely on a few friends who feel similarly, and I read books and blogs to help keep my focus.
A few I like, in addition to Notes from a Blue Bike:
- Radical
by David Platt
- Interrupted
by Jen Hatmaker
- Rhinestone Jesus
by Kristen Welsh
- Becoming Minimalist (blog)
- Extraordinary Simple Life (blog)
- The Art of Simple (Tsh’s blog)
There are many more out there with similar ideas (recommendations welcome!), but these are some of my favorites because they either help me figure out how to simplify, or they help remind me why I want to simplify in the first place.
Wife, mom, J-ma. Introvert who enjoys good books, sunshine, and authentic conversation. Often seen with a steaming mug of tea in hand – unless it’s lost yet again in the microwave. Read more »
Jamie, this was just beautiful. Your picture captivated me and from the first sentence in your introduction, I was hooked. I had to read on. We don’t live in a society that cultivates this kind of living. Our pastor speaks on this often, and has challenged our church on many occasions to “live simply.” Thank you for this reminder, and for allowing God to speak through you via your blog. I personally don’t scout out blogs often, but I saw your most recent post on FB so I must say I’m glad you made the choice to come back to… Read more »
Thanks, Meredith, for your kind words!!
Greetings Jamie, Thank you for your post. For the last 6 months my husband and I have also been discussing the advantages of a simplified life, and by faith putting into practice Bible principles on how to live a simplified [frugal] life. One of our dreams or goals to take our Bible study ministries into the RV campgrounds. Taking a whole year off to travel the US with our 15 year old in tow signifies homeschooling, something we’ve never done before, and then of course taking her out of her comfort zone, away from her friends and her ministries. At… Read more »
Wow, Yolanda, the idea of spending a year in RV campgrounds is awesome! And the less stuff/bills/whatever you have, the more likely that might actually happen; love it!
Love that verse, too — I battle fear daily so it’s one I try to return to often.
Amen, Jamie. I so desperately want to keep my eyes on the prize, that I am willing to move into an RV and where ever the Lord takes us, I am confident that it will be the best for us. There is a saying, home is where you make it! It’s interesting because just yesterday I started my very first online Bible study with Loving God Greatly, and our memory verse for this week is Matthew 6:20. Well, that is a great reminder that it’s best to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus, and to be about my Father’s business.… Read more »
Recently I sat down and thought about what I’d like to have achieved a year later, and then figured out some habits which would help me reach those goals. Some were simple things like doing housework regularly to keep my flat nice, and others were bigger like reading the Bible through in one year, or learning basic Arabic. Without goals, and clear ways to achieve them, we’re just adrift and reacting to what happens to us instead of living life deliberately. Good luck with working consciously towards your dreams 🙂
I started my journey to minimalism about a year ago. I still have a long way to go. I am part of a Babycenter group called ‘Becoming a Minimalist’ under the name HHTales. They have been great for keeping me on track and inspiring me. I wrote a post on our journey that I linked to above.