Thoughts from Parent Life Magazine on Simplifying Life

Seven by Jen Hatmaker

Did you know that if you make an average American income of $35,000, you are in the top 4% of wealthy individuals in the world? In her article, Seven, which recently appeared in the January 2013 edition of Parent Life Magazine, Jen Hatmaker reveals just that. "We have too much and it's ruining us," she says. " I want to give my children a worldview that begins and ends with the mission of Jesus." The solution? The challenge of seven. 
For Seven months this family did what some would consider to be radical moves to elimite distractions from their lives. Hatmaker writes, "Month 1: I ate only seven foods." This first month she did solo, but by month two, her family joined her in wearing only seven pieces of clothing for 30 days. Month three, they gave away seven possessions a day. Month four found them media free, with the following month limiting their spending to only seven places. Month six, they attacked wastefulness and adopted "seven new habits for a greener life," and the final month was spent praying seven prayers each day. 
So was it worth it? Jen Hatmaker reports that though it was a challenge at times and her kids especially thought their lives were being ruined, in the end they spent more quality time as a family and life was much simpler. She concludes her article with these words: "Seven was a preparation; not an end in itself...God has rendered our hearts, and we will never be the same. We sit now in the starting blocks, ready for what is coming, saying, 'Lord, teach us to serve you instead of stuff.'"

Clear Away the Clutter by Angie Smith

In her article, Clear Away the Clutter, Angie Smith shares some helpful tips for minimizing stress and maximizing efficiency. Her solutions deal with both physical and emotional clutter. What does she mean by that? Well let's take a look.
Physical clutter we are very familiar with. If you have young children (or perhaps even older ones) you can relate to Angie's toy troubles. She writes, "This past year I waged war against our toy minefield...We now have a little laundry basket...When I see stray toys around the house, I throw them in there. Once in the basket, they cannot be removed unless the kids pay for them." She states that this experiment resulted in less clutter because her children quickly learned that they did not want to spend their allowance rescuing toys when they could simply put them away. Our author then goes on to suggest list making, prioritizing, and eliminating stressors. One particular stressor for her was meal prep. To lessen the stress, she began a system where she pulled out all of the ingredients she needed for a meal ahead of time, pre-mixed and pre-packaged everything, and set it aside in a little plastic bin. She then labeled it so she could identify which meal it was. She says now when it comes time to cook, "I feel like I'm on the Food Network because everything is so neat and accessible."
Something we don't recognize as often as physical stressors are emotional stressors. Ever find yourself wasting time thinking about ridiculous scenarios or simply worrying? That's what Angie Smith calls emotional clutter. She suggests spending more time praying about things and less time worrying. "I have a phrase I repeat over and over again," she writes. "Jesus, take this from me and let me live fully in You instead of the world." We need to identify where we are emotionally stressed and learn to give those things to Jesus so we can live the abundant, free life He desires for us to live in Him. 

Parent Life Magazine is a Life Way publication. To view these and similar articles, visit www.lifeway.com/parentlifeblog or find Life Way on Facebook and Twitter.