Is it just me or do you feel like parenting today is incredibly anxiety-filled? There are so many options, so many opinions, so many products to ensure a successful parenting journey. I experience more guilt related to being a parent than in any other area of my life. I know it’s because we love these kids so much. We want to give them the world. And all around us are voices telling us how to give them world. We just get one shot at this thing called child-raising and we’re terrified we’ll miss the right voice and mess our kids up. Well on my journey toward Purposeful Simplicity I’ve come…

As Americans I think we’ve lost the art of resting. I’ve met very few people who know how to both work hard and rest well, but when I meet them I sit up and take note. Because it’s something I need to learn. Especially in our culture of parenting it seems sometimes like rest is a sin. The way people talk these days you’d almost equate rest with not caring about your kids. Parents should be running around the house waiting on kids hand and foot. Parents should be giving kids every opportunity they deserve, every chance to live a happy life and make something of themselves. Parents should not…

Last week I wrote about finding purposeful simplicity in your home. I’m convinced that one of the biggest keys to being content with your home is keeping it clean. Now by clean I don’t mean impeccably dusted baseboards or sparkling windows (neither of which I have); I just mean a home that’s clean enough for you to rest in. The best trick I know for keeping a consistently “clean enough” home has been learning utilize the little pockets of time in my day. I try to snatch that 10 or 15 minutes here and there and get one thing done: unload the dishwasher, put laundry away, clear off the dining…

Today Purposeful Simplicity was sitting outside with a cup of tea and the latest Mitford book instead of checking Pinterest.  

If you’re struggling with contentment in your home or just want some inspiration, I can’t recommend The Nesting Place highly enough. I’ve read the book twice, and every friend who’s read it says it’s made them more happy with their home. Myquillyn Smith shares her story of learning creativity and contentment with the houses God has given her with honest and humor, and all the photos of her home interior were taken in a rental house! You can check it out of the library, but it’s pretty enough to buy and keep on your coffee table.  

I believe a life of Purposeful Simplicity and enjoying your house go hand in hand and here’s why: Part of simplifying your life is learning to be at peace with being at home. Now before you write me off saying, “Well easy for you, you’re a home schooling stay-at-home mom,” just bear with me for a second. Even if you work 60 hours a week or drive kids to and from school, I still believe home can and should be a place of rest. I believe a simple life is one in which we grab pre-made food and make Target runs less and spend a smaller percentage of our day…

We’re half way through October and through the 31 Days Writing Challenge! Shall we take a deep breath? Thanks for being here with me this month. I spent the first half of the month talking about my process of finding Purposeful Simplicity: peeling back the layers, identifying the outside and the inside noise, remembering my identity, resting in who I am, not in what I do. For the rest of this month, I’ll be really practical. I’ll talk about different areas of life and home that I’m trying to make Purposefully Simple. Click here for the first post in this series. Happy mid-October!

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas wordly grief produces death. – II Corinthians 7.10 I’ve talked thus far about what gets in the way of purposeful simplicity: outside noise and inside noise. Now . . . what to do with all this junk I’m facing as I realize just how noisy my life is? Until I read the verse above it never occurred to me that I have a choice between the kinds of grief I feel: there’s godly grief (or sorrow), which as the apostle Paul says, produces repentance and leads to salvation without regret. This is the good kind of sorrow.…