Simplifying

There's nothing like a pending move to encourage you to simplify your life and minimize your possessions.

Since we moved into this house, we've been eliminating, paring down and simplifying quite a bit. We've had 2 garage sales per year and have slowly let go of things that we just don't need, don't like or don't serve us any longer.

Recently, it struck me that my possessions take a lot of time to maintain. Some of them need to be dusted. Some need to be picked up and put away. Some need to be washed. All of them will need to be packed. If I had fewer possessions, then I'd have less to keep track of and maybe more time to sit and talk with my husband or read a book to my kids.

I was reminded that God clothes us, even if our clothes don't look as beautiful as the flowers'. I decided to pare down my wardrobe. I kept 7 spring/summer outfits and a couple of items that I couldn't give up just yet (but probably will if I don't use them prior to our move). I kept my running shoes, Crocs for camping, a pair of brown Sketcher Mary Janes (which are still being evaluated) and my Chacos. I kept one summer purse.

My clothing life is much simpler. When I look in my closet in the morning, I have only a few choices. I don't have to look through several tank tops to find the one that works best with my outfit because I got rid of the tank tops that didn't work. I don't have to scan through clothes that I don't like anymore or that I used to keep because I spent money on them and I felt obligated to use them someday.

I am faithfully pursuing a fitness plan, and I am hoping that I'll be wearing a different size clothes very soon. And I'm trusting that God will provide the resources I need to purchase those clothes (or He may choose to provide them in a different way).

"Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Matthew 6:31-33

Disappointment

About a month ago, we had a house showing that seemed really promising. The young couple were in from out of town and had representatives present from both sides of the family. They were oohing and aahing over the house, and we heard that there might be a second showing later in the day.

I "made" the kids sit on the couch and watch a movie so nothing in the house would get messed up. The prospect of a second showing was encouraging. About 4:30 p.m., we hadn't heard anything from the realtor. We called to see when we could schedule the showing. She informed us that they had made an offer on another home. I was devastated. I didn't even know how to process that information. It took me a couple of days to really get a grip and recover from my disappointment.

That brings us to this week. We had 3 showings, one of which was a second showing for a buyer who saw the house a couple of weeks ago. We got an offer out of that second showing. They didn't accept our counter offer.

We got another offer, pretty comparable to the first, from another buyer. They sat on our counter offer all weekend. They said things like, "This feels like home to us." and "This is exactly how we would decorate this house." But they are not ready to respond, either way really, to our counter offer. We are moving on--to square one, that is.

I don't feel nearly as emotional about these two losses, but I am still deeply disappointed for so many reasons: my desire to plan for the future, to move on to the next step of the dream that God has given us, to catapult our family into the craziness of transition knowing that the sooner we do that, the sooner we will be settling into new routines, a new home, and a new career and that we will be finished with this house selling business.

God is in the waiting. He's walking with us, I know it. But it's still challenging.