Storage

I noticed today that a gorgeous piece of undeveloped property close to where I live is now being built upon.  What are they building is a valid question and the answer to that is a storage facility.  A place with rows and rows of storage garages of various sizes to rent for your excess stuff.  I think these places are great for people who are in transition of some type who need a place to store things until they are settled somewhere else.  Or the family with a boat may need that to store their boat, or a car or recreational vehicle that won't fit on the property at home.  For those people, there is a storage facility just around the corner from the one that is now being built.  Two storage facilities built within two miles of each other.

There are shows on television about people who go to storage facilities and buy the garage contents sight unseen hoping there is something valuable in the unit.  The storage owners are actually having to auction the contents of storage units that have outstanding rent, abandoned units, etc.   WHAT are we storing that we can't keep at home??  Are we at a point in life where we keep so much "stuff" that we can't even keep it all in our home and we even forget about what is in the unit?  Are we buying so much junk that we don't really need that we end up with an overage that warrants an extra monthly payment to store it all?


WHAT are we doing??  This all occurred to me as I noticed this new storage area being built. Clearly there is need for two storage facilities two miles apart or they would not be building it.  We have THAT much junk to warrant such building.  Bless.


In a world of overindulgence, I long for simplicity, crave less, am satisfied more, and am blessed more than I deserve.  The more stuff you accumulate, the more stuff floats around in your head producing anxiety, stress, breakdowns, and a sense of general unhappiness.  We have so much that we need a storage unit for the excess and we can't even remember most of what is in the unit.  Enough that a show has been made to chronicle the auctions and what is found in abandoned storage units.  I pray that my storage unit is full of peace, happiness, contented feelings, love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control, and good works.  May we all have an overflow of those things that our bodies can't hold all of it so we need a hypothetical storage unit for the abundance.  Not clothes.  Not furniture.  Not earthly possessions.  But love.  Peace.  Happiness.  And the ever hard to achieve-contentment.

Simplify.  Start small, and get the excess of stuff in your life completely away from you and you will find that contentedness and peace will overcome your feelings of stress, anxiety, and being in the rat race.  We don't need a storage facility on every corner.  We don't need that much junk to clutter our lives.  Let's store up for ourselves treasures in Heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves will not break in and steal.  Let us store up our fruits of the spirit and drown out all the excess earthly stuff that brings out the worst in all of us.  Stay simple.

Make today the best day ever!!
Jennifer

Less is More

I have been slowly transitioning into more of a minimalist lifestyle. I guess this kind of all started with a book I read called Born to Run. It talked about how God designed our bodies to run and how we spend high dollars on equipment to run in when our feet were already designed magnificently for the task. The book told of a reservation of folks near the Grand Canyon and their experiences then spoke of the conclusions gleaned from months spent with these folks for us. I was intrigued but not changed by this book but I kept the info filed away in my head for future use.

A year ago I read a book called Crazy Love. That book kicked me to the core. I was literally upset for a few weeks after finishing it because I didn't know what God wanted me to do with the information. It was extreme. Like sell all your possessions and move to Nigeria and serve extreme. Then adopt all the children who were orphans. I was totally moved by it but couldn't wrap my head around that. I just didn't feel like that was what God wanted me to do. So I filed that info into my head for use at an appropriate time. 

Fast forward to today, I just finished a book called Seven by Jen Hatmaker. I had moved more to a minimalist lifestyle by this point. For example, I refuse to buy new books. I waited a year to get my hands on this book. I stopped by at least once a week at the used book store to see if they had a copy. Finally, a lifelong friend posted she had read the book and let me borrow it. I loved it. It was real, it was raw, it was authentic. 

The idea presented in the book is simple. 7 months, 7 areas of excess = life changing results. Each month she took a part of her life that she felt she was excessive in. Like Media, possessions, clothing, food, etc. For the food month, she only ate 7 foods, clothing month, wore 7 articles of clothing. She did this to free up time, energy and effort for The Holy Spirit to come in and have room to move around. She went back to "normal" living after her experiment but will be forever changed from it. Get the book, read it. Then wait. Wait to see what God wants you to do with that info. Be still and know that He is God. 

It's hard to do but so rewarding. I completely quit watching tv a year ago. I have not missed it one bit. It allows me time to hear myself think, to hear God, to live fully and authentically not clouded with media opinion. My mind is more simple now. I don't forget things as much because I am not in a whirlwind. I hear God all the time. I have given Him room to move around by removing the haze of tv from my life. 

One of the things I learned from Seven is that one of the things I don't like about myself is actually a gift. I am an all in or none at all kind of girl. If I decide to do something I go to the extreme. I am all in. I have spent a lot of time trying to experience balance. Jen Hatmaker says she is the same way. She called herself an "extremist". Then she said something that was straight from God for me. She said she didn't learn lessons easily unless she was hit in the side of the head and all in. That's me. God made me an extremist too. I am embracing my extremist self as Godsent from this day forward. I am learning to balance many things and I am proud of that but I am also embracing extremes. I like how God and I are in a state of constant conversation throughout a day. It's extreme. It's how He made me. Fearfully and wonderfully made. 

Just like Jen Hatmaker, I am waiting to see what God is doing with me and this information. I'm excited, I am watching. I am ready to be more like Jesus and less like Jennifer. 

Thanks for reading my blog. Please subscribe at the right so you will receive updates when I write a new post. Have a fabulous day!!

Jennifer