Okay, do you like my earrings?
Oh, yeah, those are nice. Just classic gold hoops, they have a little bit of a design
on them that you can't really see. I almost didn't get them. Okay.
Because they were an impulse buy. Aah! So I had to turn them into a non-impulse
buy in order to actually buy them. So I'll tell you, I'll
explain how that happened. I'm curious now, I'm intrigued by this. Well, I was returning. Something at the store. And these
were at the checkout on clearance. Got it. Like they had a cute little display
of jewelry that was all on clearance, and so I was looking at it, they
caught my eye and I was like, Oh man, I need those. And then I was
like, no, I'm at the checkout, this is clearly designed to just get
rid of stuff that nobody else wanted when you're just totally impulse buying.
So I actually left the store. Okay. Did one other return
and then was like, no, I actually don't have anything like
that. You know, I had to process it, and then I was like, I don't
have anything like that, I started wearing dangly earrings again
now that my youngest is almost a year old, it just feels a little
safer, and that's a classic piece of jewelry that I
think I would like to have. So then I went back to the
store and I bought them. So it really wasn't impulsive. No, I had to turn it into a non-impulse
buy. Yeah. Yeah. No, that's good. I like them. Yeah. No, I think that
a nice, I mean, very versatile. Dress them up, dress them down. I
feel like every other person has them, I don't know why I don't. Not
me, but that's okay. We're not, we've never been dangly earring
people. I feel like you... Yeah, I've started to now with videos and
that's the only thing interesting you can see. Yeah, or if you're keeping
a more simple wardrobe, then it's a way to kinda make it stylish. We thought we'd talk about a few
things that minimalists don't do, if we were to make some mass
generalizations, don't mind that. But you also had another experience cause
what was it? Same day, okay, same day, I, Oh, man, they just get you
when you're returning stuff. I had grabbed a few things and then I
had to return them. So then, you know, you're returning, you just glance around and there was
a really cute jacket that was belted. And the thing is we have no torso
because we're just very short and so belted things never look good, but it was so cute and it was on sale
and it was kind of trendy, but classic, it was black. Oh. You'd
probably have it a long time, that's another criteria here. I looked
at it twice. And then I finally was like, no. So these made it after
careful consideration. That, I finally had to just remind myself two
different times, you will return this, that style never, it literally
has never worked for me, it's just not the part...
Yeah, it just never works. And I think that's number one is not
settling anymore when you make purchases, really being patient to get
the things that are just right. Because if you're only going to
have one spring coat or a few tops, well, they need to be just right. I mean, isn't that how we all ended up with
closets full of stuff and nothing to wear? And I still find myself, Oh, this would
be so cute. If I lost five pounds, this would be so cute. And I'm
like, Oh, have we not learned? We're seriously still going around this
mountain? I know now not to purchase it, but I'm amazed that that thought will
still creep in. I'm just like, Oh my gosh, and I'm like, no, only things
that fit right now, right here, today. And I've also even noticed though, that I have to be a little careful
when I'm researching stuff though, because it can go the other
way then where you're fearful, almost of making a decision, like, okay,
if I'm going to buy a pair of jeans, they need to be classic, but a little bit
current and they need to last forever. So I do have to be aware not
to go too far the other way, it's just a pair of jeans, it's going
to be okay. But having that awareness, I probably saved myself from thousands
of dollars a year now of really poor purchases. Well, and I found I don't
actually go shopping anymore. So I actually had to tell myself, cause
I wore the same two blouses all winter, and I'm like, no, you actually
could use something new. And that's number two, is minimalists don't window
shop because all of that is designed to get you to purchase. When you look at how much money
stores put into their window displays, the scent in
the store, the lighting, how they put the clothes just right, the appearance of the mannequin and
how plump or how thin they are. I mean, it's incredible, the lengths they go to to get us to
buy stuff or the clearance item at the checkout. No, that's where I think
for both of us shopping, isn't how you decompress
anymore or how you feel better. Retail therapy isn't
actually helpful anymore, it's kind of the opposite because it's
always going through that filter of, okay, do I actually need this or have
a place in my home or wardrobe for it? And that really clears out
a lot of the purchases. And then do I want to
commit to this for a while? Because I'm not just going to keep
replacing things for no reason. And I think with this, it's also
not being too hard on yourself. We'll still make mistake purchases. But
I don't punish myself by then saying, well, now I have to keep it forever. I bought the belted coat and it
doesn't really look that great, but I have to wear it or I have to keep
it in my closet until I fit into it or whatnot. Totally. Let it
go, in the words of Frozen. And then the third thing is that we
don't prioritize stuff over people. And I think this is a sneaky
one. It often looks like, well, I'm not going to have people over
to my house because it's a mess. I'm not going to host the birthday party. We're going to go somewhere and have
it there because there's just too much stuff in our house. And I don't
think we think of it that way, Oh, I'm letting stuff get in the way of
my relationships. But unfortunately, a lot of times that comes down to it or
we just have stuff to do in the house, and that keeps us away from
spending time with our family. And so I think that's been one of my
favorite benefits of simplifying our house is that it's less stressful. And so we
just have more fun here as a family. We spend more time together without
feeling like there's tons of stuff hanging over my head. Yeah, it all comes down
to bandwidth at the end of the day. And I think it's amazing, I'm amazed
at how I'll catch myself. Actually, even my sister-in-law was
just sharing this with me. She took a bunch of apps off of her
phone because she recognized when she started working from home, she realized that she didn't have that
commute time when she would normally call and check in with different friends
or family. And so now that she's home, then when she's doing the dishes or at
the end of a long day to decompress, she found herself listening
to different things, and a lot of times that were
kind of charged that weren't
really helpful anyway, but she's like, Oh wow, I didn't realize how apps on
my phone have actually replaced relationships and interactions with real
people. And so at the end of the day, we all just have this much, and if we're going to spend it all
managing our stuff or doing other things just to distract ourselves, it's amazing
how sneaky that is. If it's stuff, or if it's apps that all
of a sudden we're like, Oh, where are the people in my life? You know? And so just clearing out and making
the most room for that possible. And I think that you can help use that
as a filter when we are decluttering and getting rid of stuff, is to say, stuff
it's nothing personal. If it was a gift, it was something passed down to us, an impulse buy or something
we put a lot of thought into, it's nothing personal, I just
do not have time for you. I simply do not have time, just helping use that to motivate us
that we don't have to feel guilty. It happens to all of us. We weren't taught how to manage this
mass amount of stuff. But to say, you know what? I don't have time for it. The people are way more important
than the stuff and moving it on, it's not easy. That's why we hang
out, we all hang out together. If you haven't done so, please subscribe so that we can continue
to encourage you and give you the tools that you need. But I hope you don't feel like you're
in it alone because it's so much fun to get to support you on this and to cheer
you on and to know that it just keeps getting better and better,
it's so good, so... And I feel like your house is always
party ready. It's pretty close. Luckily we have a long driveway,
so if we see somebody turning in, give us five minutes,
we can pull it together. Even though you guys have the smallest
house, it's so just laid out well, and we always can gather here and it's
fun and it's simple, but it's fun, we always have fun. We do. We do
Minute To Win It. We play games, Bundt cakes, your kids play
with my kids, it's amazing. Well, and here we are preparing
for Easter. Wow, time flies. And it's just, I don't know,
spring here is in full bloom. And I think in Minnesota, I always have different
ways of encouraging people
who aren't from Minnesota. Like my sister-in-law just moved
here from Ohio, and I'm like, yes, it's very cold in the winter,
I mean, bitter, really. But the joy of March,
there is nothing like it. The days are getting longer, the
snow is melting, the sun is shining, your heart and soul just wakes up,
and by the time you get to Easter, you just feel fully alive and
it's just a beautiful thing. So we're preparing for
Easter and you know, maybe you've given up something
just to make room in your life. I know that's a common part of Lent, is maybe fasting from certain foods
or from things and just making room to reflect and prepare our hearts. And so I'm going to read a
passage here from Ezekiel, just helping us to prepare for
Easter. So this is Ezekiel 34:23. It says, And I will set up over
them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them. He shall feed
them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord will be their God. And my
servant, David shall be Prince among them. I am the Lord and I will make with
them a covenant of peace and vanish wild beasts from the land so that they
may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. And it's such a beautiful imagery of the
Lord just creating this safe haven for the people. If you were a nomadic or wandering
people who were tending to sheep, there were a lot of elements
that you had to be fearful of, and your sheep represented your
livelihood and your ability to feed your family and any wealth that you might have, and so it was a lot of very hard work
and there were a lot of very real threats to the people of Israel
under these circumstances. So for the Lord to so tenderly
speak to them and say, I will banish beasts from the land
so that you can dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods, you can just imagine how refreshing
that would be to their souls. And it's kind of contrasted
with language earlier in Ezekiel, where he's actually rebuking the shepherds
and their abuse of power, because some of them had taken
the opportunity to become fat and wealthy at the expense of
the people. And so he's saying, Hey, if you've been trusted
to care for my people, this is the type of environment that
you're supposed to create for them. And I just feel like it's a time where
it can feel like there's some very real threats in our world. And so to be reminded that
ultimately the Lord is our shepherd, that Jesus came, he came to come against any of the
things that would threaten us and to demonstrate his care and his
eternal salvation for us. And so I just think the imagery is
beautiful as we prepare our hearts to receive at Easter, the reality of who Jesus is and all
that he paid for on the cross. Well, and we haven't mentioned the book
Get Your Life Back by John Eldredge, but one of his encouragements
is you have to get outside. And I feel like if you've been
feeling at all disconnected, if you're like it's Easter, but
it doesn't feel like Easter, he talks about how we spend
90% of our lives inside, but where is all the beauty and the
glory of God displayed? It's outside. And I think that's what's been
so fun even travelling recently, driving to down South,
going through every state, every state had like its own
type of beauty, right? Yeah. Alabama was hilly, but then these pine trees and Kentucky
and going through the Smoky Mountains, oh my goodness, it was incredible. I
think it's such a good encouragement. I think everywhere this time of year, it's warm enough for not
too hot to go outside, but to get outside and just to look at
the trees and the leaves and the flowers that are starting to come up, I think it can help us start to reconnect
if you've been feeling at all distant or just, it doesn't feel like Easter. So I think that'd be a good place
to start. And that book still, if you have not read that
book or listened to it, I'll link to it below
because it was so good. And I love it too, Adley, my almost
three-year-old, she'll say mama, put on worship music, let's dance
and... We hadn't done it in a while. She just recently again, wanted to do
that. And it was such a good reminder, once we put on that worship
music and we're singing, I mean just how my soul was just
refreshed, and some of these other inputs, like I was talking about before, they
deplete us, they 100% deplete us. And so just being
connected also to a source, so whether you're connecting
through nature or you're
connecting through worship or through prayer, something bigger and
something better and something greater, and then just anchoring our hearts
and the reality that he is such a good Shepherd, that he is always caring for us. And that even some of the things
that feel threatening in the world, that he's here saying, no, I will allow
you to lie down in peace. So father, we thank you for that, at Easter as
we prepare, we celebrate that reality, Jesus, that you came. That, God, you so
loved the world that you sent your son, Jesus, that he came to
conquer all, Lord God, to be our loving and good Shepherd
and to usher us into eternal life, along with Him. So Father, we just anchor our hearts in that
reality that you are a good Shepherd, that you care for us, that you're
providing for us, you're protecting us, and you're leading us to the
provision and the peace that we need. So Father, right now, I just pray for divine refreshment
for that joy and new life and hope of spring and that same
hope of Easter to wash over each one of us, Father, that we could look up from any
difficult circumstances that we're in, and we could look ahead, Lord, with
hearts that are filled with hope, that are filled with anticipation for
good and that are doing our best to reflect your goodness, your light
and your love to the world around us. So I bless each one of us
now in Jesus's name, Amen.
