My church was talking about living simply last night. This could be about a few couples getting together and buying bulk at Costco together. It could be about managing your time better. Could be about just being instead of being busy all the time. Simple isnt so simple to me. I think being simple takes a lot of planning which at times can be far from simple. Maybe it just takes practice for it to become simple. I have a stack of Real Simple magazines and time managing websites bookmark to help me to simple. But then I find myself managing my time, then not leaving room for the spirit to just be. Usually those simple things happened when they are unplanned. Do you plan to go love on your neighbor? Do you plan to help someone out in a time of need? I cant think of a time I have planned for those things to happen. They just do, in a wonderfully unplanned matter.

Last week I had a meeting at my new job and was given the history and low-down of the current state of the youth group. My friend and boss came from the same church to where we are now. We both felt that our past church was good about just being – but thats it. There was no vision most of the time because we kept waiting to be sure it was Jesus calling us to do this thing. Where at this church, theres a lot of doing and not much waiting. Is there a balance to all of that? Id like to fool you all that I find the happy medium ground between doing and waiting on God’s voice on things in my life. Truthfully, I dont. I want to be that very organized girl who has her time managed well and does thing God has told me to and doing it well. Most of the time I just do things I think God is saying to do but not out of waiting on Him. Do I take the time to simply ask? Sometimes but not all times. Not in the daily things. Because well that takes time which we seem to run short on a lot of times. Excuses that make a wall to keep me boxed into this westernized Christian culture that frustrates me to no end.

Maybe planning a day of just being. Wait, a day of rest. This isnt a new idea of course. Its what God did after creating the world. One of my favorite books talks all about taking time out of the week, to plan around that day, of resting. Hard is it for us to do that. Really hard. We are called to such a life as Christ followers though. We called to stop, be still and listen. Jesus isnt going to shout at us, as much as I wish he would most of the time. I do think the road down this life of being simple will be in small steps. Instead of great leaps I think we want to take. Its sorta madding how those steps are easy at first then get hard in the middle of the journey. Or to feel defeated in if a few steps are backwards rather than forward. Im thankful for a Savior who is there, with open arms at all times. In the celebrating times and in the hard times of this not so simple of life we have created for ourselves.