Living in a world that is crazy busy causes me to strive for simplicity.
Hence the title of this blog post.
This is my goal every month - to live A Simple Beautiful Life, but I am making it a MUST for this month!
A long time ago I bought a cute little wooden sign that has a picture of a butterfly on it, and underneath the butterfly it reads, A SIMPLE BEAUTIFUL LIFE.
It is on a shelf in my office and I can clearly see it from where I sit at my computer.
It is colorful and bright, so it catches my attention and reminds me to hurry up and slow down so I can enjoy life.
I almost missed my opportunity to post a blog this month due to the craziness of my life at present, as much as I tried to hurry up and slow down, it never really happened.
So, setting this goal means a lot to me.
My agenda is to slow down as fast as I can, stay simple, enjoy this precious life we have been given and find beautiful moments in every day, but, in order to live this out successfully, I MUST be thankful.
My Thankful Heart Produced Happiness
A thankful heart produces a merry heart, and a merry heart works good like a medicine. So, the Book of Proverbs tells us.
In order to find complete rest from the busyness of life and enjoy the present, we must have the ointment of a merry heart coursing through our spirit, or we will not find the beautiful moments of every day.
Do you want to know what I have discovered? Thankfulness is hard to muster up if you do not want to be thankful.
Especially if you are zooming through every day, tripping over things left and right, forgetting important details, and loosing your patience with those you love.
Thankfulness is the last thing that comes to mind.
I must confess, or maybe you can already tell, thankfulness has not been at the top of my list lately. So, you can bet, there has not been a merry heart either.
Sure, I appear happy. I am naturally a happy person. But I really know what is going on deep inside my heart, and it is not merriment.
I am tired. I want some time to myself. The time I do get to myself, I am too tired to enjoy.
I miss people. I want to be around more people. I have come to find out I am a people person.
I miss worshiping and praising the Lord. I sing at home, but it isn’t the same as singing in church service.
Do I sound like I am whining? Yup. I sure do.
Trying to live a simple life can have its share of complications at times, and I have had my fill of them lately.
Now that I am at the end of this month, I do NOT want to enter the next month with the same heart attitude that has gotten me in this current state.
Lord, help me!
Tomorrow is a new day, a new month and by the Lord’s grace – a new me.
I have determined in my heart to be thankful.
It all starts with this one heart adjustment. Then, because I have walked this walk before and can speak from experience, I know a merry heart will come afterwards.
As I thank the Lord, it turns to praise. As I praise the Lord, my heart is raised.
Grace Flowed Into My Being When I Looked to the Lord
Turning my attention to the Lord and asking Him for help allows grace to flow into my inner being, causing me to rise above my situations and enabling me to face the day head on.
It is a mystery how this happens and is too high for me to understand, but the benefit of believing it does happen is wonderful. For this I am thankful.
Another thing I can be thankful for, my husband starts work again tomorrow.
I can certainly be thankful for this.
It has been great having him home during quarantine, but then it has also been very hard at the same time.
My employment has not stopped or paused at all during this COVID-19 pandemic, but my husband’s employment has stopped. Forcing him to look for other ways to release his pent-up energy. Poor guy.
I have been blessed by this quarantine, in the sense that my husband has had extra time to work on the house.
I am currently sitting in a freshly painted office with a very happy heart because my husband had time to work on this room.
He also painted our bedroom, the hallway, the stairwell, and cleaned out the garage this last month.
The month before that, he installed a new water softener and a new water heater, before tearing out a built-in desk and bi-fold closet in our guest room downstairs.
Our home has looked like a construction zone for two months – but this is all in the name of getting things done – which is a very good thing, just makes life a little crazy, that's all.
I am happy to say, that at present, there are no more tools, tarps or paint cans in the house and my husband goes back to work tomorrow – yay!
This is one reason why I will have A Simple Beautiful Life . There will not be any more house projects happening in the near future!
Two weeks into this month, my daughter and son-in-law moved out of their apartment and into our tore up guest room because they had an infestation of bugs.
An exterminator has visited their apartment twice within the last two weeks and now they feel it is safe to move back to their place in a few days.
Do not get me wrong, it has been AWESOME having my daughter back in our house. Our son-in-law is the sweetest thing ever, so they are not a problem at all.
It is everything all together that has made life crazy.
Paint cans, tools, tarps, construction zone, plus two extra people in the house equals a lot going on if you ask me.
When there are two extra people living in your home, you have extra groceries, extra food for dinner, extra dishes, and extra picking up. Let me just say, there has been extra partying going on too! We have enjoyed having them live with us immensely. They have enjoyed it as well. Just this morning, my daughter came to me and said, “Mom, we are having so much fun living with you guys! It is going to be sad to leave. It feels like we are on vacation.”
It touched my heart. Yes, it has been fun. I am glad all of us are getting along nicely.
But this brings me to the second reason I will have A Simple Beautiful Life. We will have our house back to normal very soon. Not only will there be no more tools, tarps or paint cans laying around, but we will have the house to ourselves once again. For this, I will be thankful.
Not because our daughter and son-in-law were a pain, but when things are back to normal, there will be a sense of peace and consistency, not only for us, but for them as well.
Stress Filled Me At Work
This crazy month also brought along some unforeseen stress in my workplace.
Due to the government issuing Paycheck Protection Program for Small Businesses during this pandemic, I had to prepare and fill out several financial documents for my employer’s business to be able to participate in receiving this funding.
The stress I experienced was overwhelming.
We were forewarned by the bank that all the documentation and reports had to be spot-on without any mistakes or our application would not be accepted.
I poured over this paperwork for a week straight on top of my daily tasks. Going over everything 100 x's to assure accuracy.
Thankfully, my employer’s submission went through, and the application was approved. His business was able to participate in the government funded program and it has been a great help.
A Death Appeared Out of Nowhere
We no sooner wrapped this issue up when my employer’s father passed away quite unexpectedly. It was very tragic.
One minute his father was standing in an office speaking to a receptionist and the next minute he fell to the floor and never got up.
It was a shock to the family, as you can imagine. He looked in perfect health. In fact, I had been helping him with paperwork to purchase a condo in Florida and he was going to meet with me that week to transfer his vehicle’s plates and registration to Florida.
Well, that never happened.
His paperwork still sits on my desk as a quiet reminder that he will no longer be needing his plates transferred. His Florida condo was left to his family.
This man was a great guy. He was very wealthy and had everything he ever wanted here on earth, but when he died, everything was left behind.
His wealth, houses, businesses and vehicles were all left behind for others to enjoy, and he left this earth so fast there was no time for goodbyes.
This has made a real impact upon me and I hope it continues to resound in my spirit.
For I don’t want to forget the fragility of life, or even the meaning of life.
For life is a precious gift. Here one minute, gone the next.
I Considered This Moment in Time
Have you ever wondered why you were placed on earth in this era? During this century? With these exact people that are living their lives as well?
It’s a mystery. This thought is too high for me and I can not understand its meaning.
What I do know, is God has a purpose for our lives and a purpose for us living in this unique era.
Our lives are precious in His sight. Our time on earth is precious. It is a gift from God.
How are we going to live this precious life God has given to us?
I certainly do not want to waste my time being unthankful, or whining and complaining about social distancing, paint cans, or anything else for that matter.
No. That is why I have committed to treat my life as precious this next month.
To value my time a little differently.
To be thankful for whatever the Lord brings my way, whether good or bad.
I have committed to slow down as fast as I can, find more time to read my Bible, pray, and meditate on the Lord’s goodness, thanking Him for all He has done in my life and the lives of my loved ones.
Knowing from experience, that as I do this, the ointment of a merry heart will flow through my spirit.
When this month comes to an end, I hope to have a fruitful bounty of merriment as evidence of my commitment to live A Simple Beautiful Life.
Would you like to join me on this venture? Maybe you have already been living at a slow pace and do not need to go any slower. Unlike me, who needed this wake-up call to get back to simple living.
Perhaps you have lost your focus and have not been spending time with the Lord as you should? I know I have been guilty of this.
Join with me and let us commit together.
Let us slow down, and live simple lives, marking time as we sit still.
Let us find more time to read our Bibles, meditate on what we've read, consider God's ways and how we are measuring up.
Let us be thankful and spend more time thanking the Lord then asking Him for things.
Let us look for beautiful moments in our everyday lives that are tokens of God's goodness and commit them to memory, for we soon forget how good God has been to us.
A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones. (Proverbs 17:22)
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. (Colossians 3:15)
The Lord bless you and keep you until we meet again!
Let's Pray Together
Father in Heaven,
Your ways are higher than our ways and your thoughts are higher than our thoughts. We can not begin to understand the way you work in our lives and the lives of others. All we know is what you reveal to us through your word and your spirit.
We thank you for your ways, your spirit and your Scripture, and ask that you would continue to guide us and lead us as we seek your face everyday.
May your peace descend upon all those who trust in you and may we declare your goodness over our lives.
Allow the ointment of a merry heart to course through our veins producing life and joy within our inner being.
We commit this next month to you and all of its unforeseen issues. Pour out your grace as we look to you for help.
Sustain us we pray.
In Your Precious Name,
Amen
Blessings ~
Angie
The Founder of
My Sun & Shade Ministries
