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by Jeanne Zornes
“How much is enough?” my husband asked as we watched a popular “rags-to-riches” homebuilding show. Yes, I enjoyed watching the week-long race to build or remodel a home for a needy family. But I had to agree the show promoted excesses in housing.
I looked around our “family room” (originally a single-car garage)—far from anything worthy of a photo shoot. Pillows covered with remnants accented our second-hand couch. Our old television (on antenna, not pricey cable) didn’t command a wall of its own. And I was okay with that.
Long ago, we decided to live more simply. By deliberately reducing expenditures, we’ve avoided the stress of debt and been able to help others. We’ve enjoyed big-scale blessings because of frugal choices described by the acrostic “SIMPLE.”
S—Seek less stuff
We tend to fill and spill out of the living space we’re given. My family’s not without fault. Keeping possessions pared to the capacity of our small home is a constant struggle. I cram my clothes into less than a meter of closet space and have inventive grocery storage in my tiny, “eat-in” kitchen! Yet I have far more than most of the world.
Reading sale ads reminds me that our culture promotes “bigger and better.” But God’s plan for me might be “smaller” and “less.” Missionary statesman Hudson Taylor annually sorted through everything he owned, giving away things he hadn’t used for a year. He believed God held him accountable for keeping anything that others could use.
We own nothing forever. Our nicest car became trash in an instant on the night a drinking driver hit us.But our lives were spared and our less-attractive replacement car still gets us around ten years later.
I—Invest with intention
Dr. Richard Swenson, author of Margins, says people encounter financial problems because they fail to create “margins” in their lives for long-term needs. By decreasing spending and increasing savings, he said, God can use us to take care of our family’s future and to help others.
To decrease our housing expenses, we worked hard to pay off the mortage on a modest home. Doing so enabled us to save interest charges almost equal to the original purchase price. That gave us financial breathing room to invest in our children’s music lessons, save for college, give to missions, and help needy relatives.
It wasn’t always easy to send a tax refund or extra income to the mortgage company. It meant no credit card debt and tightly budgeting my husband’s teacher’s salary. But those margins helped as we move through our children’s college years to our own retirement. It also frees me to be at home as my elderly mother-in-law’s care-giver.
M—Mend and make-do
We’ve learned to be content with cheaper alternatives and to take care of what we have. Our home is full of second-hand, fixed-up furnishings. When my daughter grew out of babyhood, her room makeover originated as hand-me-downs and thrift-store finds—freshened up with white paint and stencils. Scraps that friends passed my way went into her patchwork bedspread.
One summer afternoon as I sat in a glider swing that somebody ditched (I sewed new cushions for it), I watched my children splash in a wading pool a neighbor had discarded our way. Their “playhouse” (of throwaway lumber) included an old bean bag chair with a big duct-tape patch. They didn’t need “new” for fun.
P—Plan out spending
Yes, we buy new, too—but only after saving toward the purchase price, researching the best buy through consumer-test magazines (borrowed from the library—another way to save), and waiting for a sale. Some of our appliances came from the store’s “ding” room (damaged in shipping or returned). A favorite recliner was cheap because the first purchaser didn’t like the “click” when it rocked. I found it helped put the kids to sleep!
We also wait for sales cycles (my husband got a $70 down coat for $25 in February’s winter clearance). I avoid expensive last-minute gift-shopping for birthdays, weddings and new babies by browsing clearance tables for items I put away in a “gifts” bin. My sewing hobby transforms scraps for other gifts, like one-of-a-kind aprons (paired with a homemaker book) or quick-sew baby essentials.
The Sunday paper includes coupon inserts that I clip and file—but only for products I’d use, and only when I can match a coupon to a sale price and get below the generic-version price. My husband especially enjoyed shaving the other morning with a razor I got on sale, with a coupon, and that will be free after the rebate! Couponing resources abound; check out one at www.elliekay.com/htm/links.html#coupons.
L—Let God provide
I’ve learned you can’t outgive God. In my early twenties, I entered two years of mission service. One couple that pledged toward my support lived on support themselves with a local ministry to children. But the husband insisted on giving, saying, “God keeps shoveling it in and I keep shoveling it out.”
God has creative ways to “shovel it in.” He’s caused people to ask me to teach seminars and adult education classes. My children were regularly called to substitute a 115-customer paper route. The kids’ “sleepover” tent came from a grocery store drawing. A motel grand opening landed us a “bridal suite” for a family mini-vacation. My small daughter saw God at work when someone dropped off a bag of fabric scraps that included denim I could sew into the “in” jacket she wanted.
E—Enjoy the little things
I don’t shop for entertainment. I avoid the tours of dream homes. I know these could tempt me with discontent. Instead, as Proverbs 30:7-9 says, I ask God to keep me from the extremes of poverty or riches and instead help me be grateful for daily bread—for how He meets the simple, basic needs.
For me, the joys of simpler living include slipping under clean, sun-dried sheets. I enjoy inhaling the cedar aromas when I open my late mother’s hope chest to retrieve a patchwork blanket for a cold winter night. Simple joy is picking roses to take a friend who’s discouraged. It’s setting the table with the “red plate” for a child’s achievement and taking a loaf of fragrant bread out of the oven.
I don’t need an expensive home remodel or lots of “things” to find happiness. A commitment to “less” reminds me that God has given me far more than enough.
Are you tired of the push to acquire stuff and then the pressures of taking care of it? Do you need a fresh vision of what’s really important?
God promises to supply all our needs. But most important, He offers what will never wear out, rot, burn, or get stolen. That’s eternal life through Jesus Christ. Nothing we own will last for eternity—only what we do with His offer to have a relationship with Him.
Jesus is waiting to help you both manage life now and anticipate being with Him forever.
You can receive His help right now through prayer. Praying is simply talking to God. He already knows your stresses and worries, and wants you to come to Him with them. Don’t worry about the “right words.” He knows what’s on your heart. Here’s something you might pray:
Lord Jesus, I admit that I got focused on getting “things” and found they didn’t bring me true satisfaction. I want you to take over my life and teach me about your priorities. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I ask you to come into my life and do a spiritual makeover on me. Thank you for your promise of eternal life.
Did this reflect your heart? If so, thank God that he will never leave you nor forsake you, and that you have the gift of eternal life. As you learn more about God and His love for you, you’ll discover the secrets of true and simple joy.Questions…..
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~Jeanne Zornes is a widely published magazine and book author whose seven books include When I Got on the Highway to Heaven, I Didn’t Expect Rocky Roads (Kregel) and her self-published book on simple living, Homemaker Helper. Learn more about her speaking at www.classervices.com