Choose Joy in the Journey

A pile of old photos lay in heaps on my bedside table.  Some slip out of album pages where sticky backing tape once held them in place.   Some are so discolored, people look like purple shadows.   A project of this size fits right in to my life now since I can’t be on my feet much after foot surgery three weeks ago.   I’ve got another three weeks of rest so I’ll work on things which keep my foot elevated and my mind active.   Things like shredding sensitive files, reading, creating greeting cards, and reorganizing years of photos.   My children laugh at my pictures with mile high hairdos, outdated clothing styles and fun memories of their earlier years!   Bulging bags of photos sit ready to distribute to my girls, my siblings, and my niece.   These wonderful memories of family gatherings, past Christmas times, and travel provide an incredible high for me during recovery.   Photos tell stories.  The album currently on my lap dates back to...

What does minimizing look like?  To the empty nester it may mean downsizing real estate.  To the co-dependent, it may mean pitching some toxic friendships they tend to collect.  I thought I had a handle on Biblical minimalism, but I wasn’t even close.  Biblical minimalism is much more than cleaning out a drawer and discarding unwanted things into a box to take to the thrift store. In her book, Biblical Minimalism, Cheryl E. Smith defines Biblical minimalism as “a complete, whole person release of anything unlike Jesus, a letting go of everything that hinders us from following Him wholeheartedly and single- mindedly , and a relinquishing of all that brings us under bondage to this earthly, very temporary life.” The author gives us a visual of a whole pie that is divided into eight slices.  Each slice describes our lives with areas to analyze to see if pruning or adjustment is needed.  I won’t name them all, but one example is the “emotional ...