Seeking the Simple

I must thank you all, dear readers, for coming back here after a week with no blog posts.  As I wrapped up my women's group, I needed to take a few days to get my "new normal" together.  This time, it took me a week.  In that time, I prepared for and had a garage sale, set up an exercise area in my garage, and purged our homeschool materials and curriculum. 

I am already setting up this next year as a year of the simple.

SIMPLE.

It sounds good, doesn't it?
 
The easy part is living the simplified life.  The hard part is getting to simple.  Simplifying life often takes radical habit changes, and they are not always easy changes to make. 


This year, the Lord is giving me clear direction of what I need to let go.  I do not work outside the home, but I occasionally do some things from home that provide a little spending money here and there.  Two of those things are my infant sleep training services and a nanny placement agency in my area--both of which I have run and helped run, respectively, for the past seven years.

Neither of these two have my heart, and neither are my calling.  They actually take my time away from everything and everyone who does have my heart.  But I do love to help, and, too often, I find myself volunteering to help with more than I can handle.  When I spend any time on these two, I always find myself falling behind in another area--a more important area--such as caring for my home or being diligent to train my children.  


This year, though, I am letting them both go.  As in, completely.

This is the year I follow my own advice.  I've shared with many women what was shared with me several years ago:

Do only what only you can do.

Profound, and yet such a simple concept.

There is that word again:  simple.

I'll be sharing more on how I'm simplifying, so stay tuned for more...plus a great guest post from a friend who encourages simplicity in all areas of life! 


Tell me how YOU have simplified your life!  Do you let go of certain commitments?  What kinds of commitments have you set aside for a time or for good?