KEEP IT SIMPLE

“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life.” 1 Thessalonians 4:11

I was in the ballet studio the other day, rehearsing a pas de deux…oh how I love dancing with a partner…it makes me giddy. I love how it makes me feel like I’m floating through the air and how it HELPS me hit my lines and  allows me to get over my arches in my pointe shoes. Love it! This pas is super short and sweet. The choreography is sophisticated and simple, nothing overly tricky, fancy, or complicated. (not sayin it’s easy by any means!)

For this phase of my life as a busy mama of three little ones…simple, short, and sweet…is good for my soul! This simplifying theme seems to be following me around in my life right now…does it ever feel like God is following you around with a theme? :)

Yesterday, I did the thing where there is a pile of stuff at the bottom of our stairwell…over the course of the day, I put everything that needs to return upstairs on the first step of the stairs. After mornings of making lunches, getting kiddos ready for school, making breakfast, and making sure one gets his allergy medicine…the pile starts…and later after school, the pile grows…so the pile looks like clothes, inhaler, hairbrush, spray bottle, blankets, even toothbrushes and toothpaste, PJ’s, toys…. and I found myself yesterday trying to meticulously pick up every item so that I could make it up the stairs in one trip…balancing my own coffee mug and my phone, I tried to grab as much stuff as I could to “save time” by taking one trip. (can you predict what happened next) :) I made it up about half way…then things started tumbling out of my hands and back down the stairs…

Isn’t this how we feel sometimes in life…like we are juggling so much at once…in the name of saving time? We juggle, we shuffle, and we try to hold everything together. We take on more than we can handle.

And it hit me as I picked up a soccer ball, a sippy cup, and some pajama pants…I need to stop trying to carrying everything all at once…not just on my stairway…but in my life…

I need to get back to short and simple…because short and simple is SWEETER.

Just like this pas de deux that I’m working on right now is short, simple, and sweet….just the right amount of dancing for me in this somewhat busy time of life…I crave simple and sweet in my day to day life.

How about you?

Is there anything you could let go of in order to live in a less chaotic way? How would it feel to “make it your ambition to lead a quiet life”? I know how hard this is for any woman. We are jugglers and multi-taskers by nature…it goes against the grain of our fast paced world…but how much better would we feel…how much more would we be able to FEEL God’s peace and presence in our life if we let go of some of the stuff that is causing us to do the juggling and shuffling dance?

How do we know what to cut out?

I want to encourage you to set up a date with you and God…take a pen, a notebook or journal, your calendar, and your Bible. Lay it all out before Him, and ask Him to show you what He has in mind for you…because this theme has also been following me around a lot lately…

When you simplify your life down to doing just the things God has made you for, it energizes you. (mamas of little ones, can I get an “amen!” We could all use some extra energy!)

List out all the things you are committed to, all the things on your calendar, all the events, all the stuff, how you use your down time, how you use your quiet moments…and pray about every item. Pray about the desires in your heart of things you want to do, but feel like there are no opportunities in front of you, and pray about anything that comes to mind that is weighing heavy on your energy level. Tell God what things you are dreading and what things excite you. Ask the Lord to fill in your calendar…

and be sure to leave lots of whitespace for time to let Him use those white spaces to fill you up….because time with Him will energize you like nothing else!

So, now every time I run through this simple pas de deux, it will remind me to keep life simple and sweet. And every time I face that pile of stuff…of all the contents of life as a busy mama…I will stop, thank God for my role as wife and mom…and split up my pile into three or four trips…thanking God for His grace to simplify, so that I can function in the way He designed me to function.

Today, may your day be a day of simplicity…simple and sweet….and may the simplicity bless your soul!

Blessings friends!

Prayer: “Lord, here is all the stuff I am juggling…and it is causing me stress. Lord, slow me down. Here is my calendar and everything I am committed to…show me what I can let go of. Simplify my heart, soul, mind, and life so that I can live the way you intended for me to live when you thought me up!”