Saturday, March 23, 2013


By Lucretia

Restructuring our Time

Most people I know struggle with finding time to get everything on their to-do lists done. They run from daylight to long after dark trying to achieve the pleasure of finishing the list. Except that rarely do they accomplish it all.  We’re left with exhaustion, stress, anxiety, frustration, and a sense of guilt that we don’t quite measure up.

In many seasons of my life, especially when the girls were young, this was my story too. Even now that I’m way past the season of active parenting, I can still find myself packing too much into the day and come to the end with not one ounce of energy left for those I love most.

Randy Frazee wrote a very interesting book in 2003, Making Room for Life: Trading Chaotic Lifestyles for Connected Relationships.  In it he encourages his readers to commit to live by the Hebrew Day Planner.  “The pattern of the Hebrew day was taken from creation. After describing the day’s creative work the author of Genesis concluded the section with these words, ‘and there was evening and there was morning - the first (second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth) day.’”

The ancients lived in an agrarian society when work was done in the daylight hours. Work was done from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.  Six in the evening signaled that it was time for relationships; a good dinner prepared for and eaten with family and neighbors. Then sleep - aah that elusive element many of us are so deprived of. 

Restructuring our time by the Hebrew Day Planner is just one way Bill and I are living more gently with ourselves.  It is helping us live at a more human pace and make room for work, relationships, and sleep. We enjoy preparing dinner together and eating at a more leisurely pace. Many times we have friends over to share dinner and conversation.

Walking together in our neighborhood or taking our books out on the porch is another way we purpose not to “work” into the night. Spending time on the porch or in the neighborhood in the evenings gives us a chance to meet and talk with our neighbors. Something we rarely did when our evenings were consumed with chores and work brought home from the office.

And, yes, we do get to bed earlier than we used to, and that’s a very good thing. When I sleep 8 hours I wake feeling rested and ready for a new day. I can tackle those tasks left undone from the day before with a fresh and more alert mind. It's a win/win situation.

What about you? How are you restructuring time to create sacred space for God, family, friends, and rest?

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

An Old Message -- Or Is It?

From Sammie:

An Old Message -- Or Is It?

One of my favorite teachings on simplicity from the Bible is the book of Haggai.

Haggai is not a portion of Scripture that we read frequently, but let me refresh your memory on this story. The Jews had been in exile in Babylon for 70 years and were permitted to return to Jerusalem. Some were used to their life of captivity and chose to stay where they were, but some did return home. When they first arrived in Jerusalem, they were enthusiastic about rebuilding the temple, so they built for themselves only minimal housing. Simple lean-tos, nothing fancy, so they could get on to the job of rebuilding the temple, which had been destroyed.

The Samaritans, however, objected to the rebuilding of the temple and they quickly persuaded Cyrus, the ruler, to forbid the Jews from working on the temple. For the next 16 years, no work was done.

In the meantime, the Jews concentrated on building their own homes. I don't know where their wealth came from, but they built magnificent houses from stone and the richest wood. They were eaten up with materialism. Maybe it was because they had suffered in Babylon and now that they were free, they couldn't get enough of showing off and having more and more stuff.

Darius became king and he lifted the ban forbidding work on the temple, but, guess what? The people were so wrapped up in their own over-consumption and extravagant lifestyles that they weren't interested in working on the temple anymore.

This is when God sent the prophet Haggai to speak to His people. "Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it." (Haggai 1:5-6).

This passage was written more than 2500 years ago, and yet it describes us today.

We plant much and harvest little;
We eat and drink but are not filled;
We earn money and don't know where it goes.

This is true, in part, because we have complicated our lives to the extent that we don't know what is important, or we choose to ignore what is important, in the eyes of God.

Having wealth or having nice things is not the problem. The problem comes when our things or our lifestyles steal our relationship with God. If my possessions demand so much time that I neglect time to study Scripture or to pray, then I will "harvest little." If I work hard to earn money, but I have no peace, then I have worked for nothing.

Perhaps the Prophet Haggai is banging on my door, too. What about you?

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Repurposing


From Lucretia

What’s old is new again. . .we are discovering the art of repurposing in our quest for simple and gentle living. Repurposing changes our world on many levels. It unleashes our creativity and provides us with unique items we can gift to others or enjoy ourselves. Repurposing keeps things out of the landfills while giving us a sense of sustainability.

My mother and grandmother were masters of repurposing. They lived up to the ideal of making do with what you have. Jelly jars for drinking were common in our home. Pickle jars became lightening bug catchers and coffee and tea tins were repurposed to contain buttons, clothes pins, and a host of other small items.
My sweet daughter, Lenore has a great eye for repurposing all kinds of things. She has her father’s gift for working with her hands and his patience to carry out very detailed projects. Her latest repurposing effort was to convert an old wooden window she found in her garage into a gift for me. 

We filled the window with photos from our family Christmas trip and a few other happy moments from 2012. Seeing it as I pass through the living room makes me smile because I see a happy family at play and life skills passed to the next generation.



What are you repurposing?