Why I’m Simplifying Our Home
I recently shared about how relationships are the most important part of life. This is the reason why I’ve been simplifying our home, so that I can spend less time and energy on stuff and more time on my relationships.
If relationships are the priority, where does that leave our homes and the stuff in them?
Things don’t have to be the enemy of relationships, there is a proper place for them.
Cleaning and organizing our homes and the things in them will always be a part of life. Certain appliances and tools really are a gift that can save us time. Furniture and decor make the home a cozy place where people feel welcome. Toys and games can help develop our kids minds and deepen our connections with each other. Clothing keeps us warm. Books feed our minds. Physical things are not evil, they are gifts that we are to steward well. No matter how much we declutter, we will always spend some time each day maintaining and caring for our stuff. There’s no getting around it, but these mundane tasks can be redeemed when they are done in a relational way for God’s glory. Together, friends help each other with the dishes, kids help each other cleanup after playing with toys. Even alone, we can fold laundry with a thankful heart and in doing so, bring glory to God. We can reflect his character by bringing order out of chaos and by serving our families in love as we pick up those dirty socks.
Simplifying the home isn’t about donating everything and eliminating all housework. It’s really about intentionality. Being intentional while doing the tasks, and being intentional to make those tasks efficient and minimal. How can I spend the smallest amount of time possible thinking about what’s for dinner and where my socks are? Here are a few of the practical projects that have helped.
-Purging and removing all the extra stuff that we don’t need and don’t value. Minimal stuff means minimal time cleaning and arranging that stuff.
-Investing some time up front creating meal plans, weekly routines, and laundry systems that are beginning to save a lot of time and mental energy in the day to day.
-Disciplining myself and our kids to practice some daily habits of making sure every item has a home and putting things back when we’re done using them.
Again, the reason behind all of this is to create more mental space for relationships, to spend my time well so that I can be a present wife, mom, and friend. Once we can eliminate excess clutter and wasted time, then comes the fun part. We get to fill the space with what is valuable to us. If we aren’t intentional at this point, the extra time and energy we have worked hard to earn will quickly get sucked up by different things such as too much TV and social media. There are so many other obstacles to living an intentional life. What matters most to you? This will look slightly different for everyone. For our family, we value quality time as a family, reading good books, having dance parties, filling our minds with what is good and true through God’s Word, and having buffer time to love people by meeting sudden needs that come up, to name a few. An intentional, simple life isn’t easy, it takes some time up front to think and strategize, hard work to declutter, and daily habits to maintain, but it is possible, freeing, and worth it.
