Simplicity

If ever there was a young lady who overly complicated her life, I would be the one. At a young age I decided my life would be anything but boring so I began adding all kinds of things, problems, people, situations (you get the picture) into my life to keep things "interesting". As you can imagine, years later, I realized what that self-made promise got me; lots of complication and very little boring. When I stopped to think about it, it wasn't what I was truly looking for. Unnecessary complexity never is. However, eventually I decided through trial and error that there really is beauty in simplicity-and I wanted to get to the core of it. I sincerely wanted to taste the sweetness of the simple life.

 
How can you find beauty in simplicity when your life isn't simple? The next question I would ask is, "what is simple"? Albert Einstein made it plain through his studies that everything is relative, so what is it then?
Ironically, simplicity is a word full of meaning. However, we're going to narrow it down to these three definitions: having clarity, plainness as a way of life, and possessing sincerity.

Sincerity

Sincerity does not overcomplicate. If you sincerely desire to raise a family, keep home, love your husband and nurture a marriage- then you truly desire to do it. Sincerity goes against the norm and does not use false pride or flashy show to live life. Sincere change in a woman

comes because she does things because she loves to, because she desires to for whatever reason she believes in. This definition does not say we are busy because we are sincere. It is merely saying that sincerity is the crucial beginning step to any change and the ingredient to keep it that way.
If life is too busy or complicated for you now take an inventory of your life and go inside to find the desire to slow down or cut down on the extras. What does that change entail? You decide. That change in your life could means cutting out the extra running around or getting rid of excess clothing to cut down on the laundry loads. Only you can look at your life and sincerely decide what needs to go to begin anew.

Plainness as a way of Life

I love newness, pretty things and am a very spontaneous person. (No, this isn't turning into a personal ad.) { smile } Because of this, I always thought plain was boring. As I've been living a more plain way of life, I've come to see that it is anything but boring. Simplicity is deep and meaningful, rich and organic. Simplicity is appreciation for the beauty of the earth, for the belongings we have, and for life itself. As we slow down and get back to the basics, to our roots, and to our core we discover more that is within ourselves and embrace the larger picture of life.

Clarity

When we get rid of the extra unnecessary things that clutter and complicate life we can see more clearly. When we're constantly cleaning the house because we have too many belongings sometimes it's hard to see past the clutter. When we're running around all day and barely make it home to throw a meal in the microwave and then collapse from exhaustion on the couch, how can we see past the tired eyes?

Clarity comes when we get rid of complexity. Clarity comes when we invite it in and slow our lives down to simple, loving tasks and less to-do's. It is true that there will be things we don't want to do but have to. How does this look in your life? What will you cross of your list and breathe a sigh of relief from?
From the simple bouquet of fresh flowers on the table to the homemade rolls baking in the oven, it's the simple things that make life so meaningful. Take time to stop and see the beauty of simplicity.

Proverbs 31:13

She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.

This verse got me to wondering about the seeking and the willingly. Do I seek ways to provide for my family and do I work for my family willingly. I looked up both of those words in my concordance and found the normal definition for seeketh but for willingly I found;

1) delight, pleasure

A) delight

B) desire, longing

C) the good pleasure

D) that in which one takes delight

Do I not only work with my hands making a home for my family but do I delight in it? Is it my pleasure to do it. I love the idea of taking delight in seeking things that I can make or use for my family. It reminded me that no matter what am doing I should be delighting in it, whether it's cleaning, laundry, mopping, cooking, knitting or ironing if my hands are involved then I should have pleasure in doing it for my family.  

Proverbs 31:11

The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.

So as I was reading and praying over this verse I found it interesting that the last phrase says shall have no need of spoil. It didn't say that he wouldn't spoil but that he would have no need of it. This got me to wondering what the words or phrase means in the original language.

So I went on a quest and was surprised to find that it meant

1) prey, plunder, spoil, booty

A) prey

B) booty, spoil, plunder (of war)

C) plunder (private)

D) gain (meaning dubious)

So this led to more thoughts and prayers  in trying to figure out why this wording was used and what it meant. This is where I ended up. His heart safely rests in her, he trusts her with everything, he relies on her prudence and her skill and knows that she will not disappoint him.

He has no need of spoil he does not lack profit or gain, especially those obtained by risk of war. She spends wisely and is thrifty so he does not have to extra risks to provide for the family. The more I meditated on this verse the more I was convicted. I began to think of all the ways I spend money and am I spending wisely? Do I demand or expect things from my husband that are not necessary and cause him to take risks in business that are un-necessary? I found that I am doing fairly well in this area especially as I am working hard on cutting expenses and only asking for those things that that are needed for the family.

Household Notebook

Ok here's thee rough draft of my notebook for 2011.  I will try to narrate as I go along feel free to ask any questions.  I will also try to give links to blogs or other websites whose materials I used when creating my notebook.  I also have a notebook for each of my boys and will try to get that up later.

Here is the front cover.  
I like things to be functional and pretty.

I bought the basic lay out for my notebook from fruit of her hands.  I love this blog she has some great ideas on lot's of different things.

This is the first page inside of the folder.

Inside of that are some Bible studies I enjoy.

Which I can share if you would like. I also have Proverbs 31 printed out and placed there and my prayer journal.

Next is my personal goals.

Just some thing I use every year to set goals for myself in the next year.  Again, I will share these if someone is interested. These include spiritual goals, health goals, family goals financial goals and any thing else that I have as a goal.  I very strongly believe that if you don't have a vision for your life then you have nothing to work towards.

Next is schedule

In this I have my Daily schedule

I can share a little more about what's on it if someone wants it. It is broken out into morning and early afternoon and then late afternoon and evening.  This helps me to know when things should be done by.

After this I list cleaning and the things that happen daily,weekly,monthly

As you can see I have it broken into days Monday-Saturday. Then each day lists the specific things that need to be done on that day.  I also include 20 minutes of working on a project of some kind.

I also list projects that I want to get done.

Next is the chore list, so that you know what needs to be done daily, weekly and monthly.  It also is a great for helping the boys know what the room should look like when it's clean.  This way IO don't have to remind them what it looks like every day but they know I just expect these things done when this is your room for the week.

Next I have menu Planning

I try to plan from Saturday to Saturday making sure to look at the sales that come out then planning the next weeks menus based upon what's on sale.

Then I list emergency number.

This includes Dr's numbers, relatives, our fire escape plan,poison control.

Basically I try to include anything that could possible be needed here.

Next is important numbers.

These include all insurance numbers, numbers for all electric,water and gas companies.  I also include health insurance numbers.

Then Financial

In here is a calendar of when Bills are do.  I also have a folder for receipts and one for the current bill.

Next Projects,  This could be anything from pictures of swing projects to detailed list of things I want to get done

Then I have a gift giving section.  If someone mentions something they would like I tend to write it down so I don't forget.  No picture for this one but it looks like the ones above but says gift giving.

 Then it's my calendar where I write down all of my appointments and such.  I also keep track of sports practices and game dates.

The last one is my home school section.  It grows throughout the year.  Right now all that is in it is the next weeks overview for each boy.

It allows me a quick look at what they are doing each day and whether or not they have a live lesson and at what time.  

You can follow my life here.

http://coloradoblessed.blogspot.com/

Groups I belong to

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BiblicallySubmissivehousewives/