Simple. Focused. Thriving.

These three words have became my theme for this year. And the further into the year we get, the deeper yearning I have. Simple. Focused. Thriving. 

 

Is it really that hard to have?

 

Should it be???

 

I would say that each family probably has a different idea of what simple, focused, and thriving looks like to them. My vision is a life that is uncluttered (simple), focused on God and His will (not focused on what "life" tells me to be focused on), and definitely living a life to where we are doing MORE than JUST surviving. Yes, where we actually THRIVE!

 

Sounds great, doesn't it?

 

The problem lies when we aren't willing to take necessary steps to get to that life.

 

When we aren't willing to say no... when we aren't willing to live differently than others....

 

Saying yes to God sometimes means saying no to others...

 

To live like nobody else in the future, you need to be willing to live like nobody else NOW.

 

Here are some things that we've started doing...

- Eating from the pantry/fridge/freezer FIRST before buying new food. Using this approach has seriously helped my grocery bill. Thanks to Dani Johnson, we have a totally different outlook. And are becoming much better stewards of what God has given us. Yes, this means that we start really weighing what we NEED vs what we WANT. We stop having SOOOOO many food options (do we really NEED two or three different kinds of cereal?!), we eat what we have- even if it isn't what we WANT. We stop spending just to spend. And then we can apply that money that we save to paying off bills, saving for trips, or increasing our savings.

 

- Decluttering. You and your kids don't NEED so many clothes.... or toys.... or knick knacks.... or..... Now, I'm not saying you can't have "stuff", but we realized we had too much. So we planned for a garage sale and began selling "extra stuff". That money goes to the same stuff as above- paying off bills, saving for trips, and increasing our savings.

 

- Realizing that there are SOOOOOOOOOOOO many things BIGGER than our little circle. We have no idea how truly blessed we are... living here in America. We struggle with petty decision making ALL THE TIME! Where do we eat at for dinner, how do we get multiple kids to multiple locations at the same time, what are we going to wear, and the list goes on and on..... Listen... There are kids being trapped in sex trafficking, families on the run FEARING for their lives, and all around there is hunger. True, heart breaking HUNGER.... and here we feast and throw away SO MUCH! That's the focused I'm talking about. Being so focused on serving God that we put our priorities into perspective.

 

So, yeah, my goal is simple. Focused. Thriving. What's yours?