day 1: why purposeful simplicity?

As I thought about what I want to write this month, the common thread that wove its way through my ideas was Purposeful Simplicity. Because this is where I am right now. This phrase expresses what God’s teaching me this year in different areas of my life, bringing it all together into one whole.

I use the word “Purposeful” because I love the idea of simplicity but don’t think it in and of itself is enough. Simplicity is a popular word these days, and I think it can be a wonderful goal or also an unhealthy obsession. I can work and work toward a simple home and a simple life at all costs and become controlling and shut people out. I can miss the whole point.

As a homeschooling mom who’s married to a pastor and about to adopt a baby, my life is busy. Busy isn’t wrong in and of itself, so long as I’m asking the question, “Am I purposefully busy or frantically busy?” Am I busy doing the right things or the wrong things? In the deepest part of my heart, what’s driving me?

And so to me a life of Purposeful Simplicity is walking thoughtfully into the adventure God has for me. It’s ordering my priorities and focusing on just a few things and letting the rest go. It’s living from a place of peace and rest rather than a place of anxiety and fear. It’s drinking deeply instead of skimming the surface.

I feel unqualified to write 31 blog posts about Purposeful Simplicity because there’s still much I need to learn. Whole areas of my life are neither purposeful nor simple. But I think that’s one reason I want to do this challenge. I hope in the thinking and writing, I will be changed and will travel a couple steps further on my journey.