simplifying life, part 1: hurray for cheap cars and walking!

As promised, here is part one in a three-part series on how we've tried to simplify our lives over the last year. This first post is about our efforts to simplify our finances.

For starters, there's Little Blue. She's old and a bit rough around the edges, but she's like a Timex watch - she can take a lickin' and keep on tickin'. I'm referring to the newest addition to a our family - a 1990 Toyota Corolla AllTrac Wagon (b and the boys are proudly posing with Little Blue in this picture). Little Blue has replaced Big Grey - a massive, gas-guzzling Lexus. We sold Big Grey (we never actually called him that, but I needed a name) a month ago, and we are thrilled to be driving Little Blue around now.

Little Blue represents a significant step for us in our quest to simplify. She may not be much to look at, but she is cheap, durable and friendly (or at least friendlier) on the environment. No status. Just practicality.

Walking is even better. The house that we are renting (the old one is still for sale) is within walking distance of my office. So I walk to work every day I can. My walks in the morning and afternoon are two of the best parts of my day. Instead of fighting traffic and paying for gas, I'm getting healthier and I have to time to pray and think.

Our decision to sell our old car and get Little Blue stemmed from a realization we had about a year ago: we had gotten caught up in the social climb - never happy with our current car, our current house, our current job, our current clothes, etc. Always spending money we shouldn't have been spending to look more impressive to those around us. It really started to wear us out. It wasn't good for us financially, spiritually, and even physically (because when you spend a lot of money, you worry about money all the time, which puts stress on your mind).

Our new frame of mind is this: let's be happy with what we have, and let's spend less than we make. Let's not worry as much about what people think of our house, our car or our clothes. Let's use our money in the way God intended - to take care of our needs and to bless and help other people.

And that's really the bottom line: God has blessed us with money. What we do with that money is a reflection of our relationship with Him. If we use all of our money to make our ourselves look impressive, to satisfy our egos, then we're not really honoring what God has given us. But if we only use what we really need and use the rest to honor God and help people, then amazing things will happen.

That's what we believe.

simplifying life: an intro

About a year ago, b and I read a good book called Tis a Gift to be Simple. It's about simplifying your life from a spiritual and Biblical perspective - learning how to live a life that is quieter, more thoughtful, more concerned with knowing God and helping people, as opposed to getting richer and gaining more status in society. I'm not talking about walking around in a burlap sack and eating nothing but bean sprouts here. I just mean pointing life in a different direction: away from "more, more, more!" and toward something far cooler and more fulfilling.

Ever since reading the book, we've been on a quest to simplify our lives. Everything from the way we spend our money and time to what we eat at the dinner table. I have to be honest, while I enthusiastically launched this effort with b, I was also wondering in the back of my mind if this would be like many other "self improvement" efforts - exciting and rewarding in the beginning, somewhat boring and tedious in the middle, and fizzling out to nothing in the end. I was also just a teeny bit worried about having to wear a burlap sack.

A year later, however, life for our little family has simplified considerably. And it has been such a blessing. I am so glad we made these changes, and I look forward to making more. We haven't succeeded completely - we still have a long way to go. But one step at a time, we are getting farther away from materialism and "the coolness of being too busy" and closer to the kind of life we believe God wants us to lead. And I still get to wear my normal clothes. No burlap sacks.

In a three-part series, I will be blogging about our efforts. I'll write about our successes, our failures, and our plans for the future.

Part 1: hurray for cheap cars and walking!
Part 2: simple food tastes good
Part 3: being "too busy" is not actually that cool

Look for Part 1 coming soon. Also - if you are taking steps to simplify your own life, I'd love to hear from you. And if you wear a burlap sack - send pictures!