The truth is God doesn’t call us to simplification. He calls us to sanctification. He calls us to obedience. He calls us to love. “Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it’”

The blogosphere is littered with topics on living simply and simplifying life. Actually, it’s kinda everywhere. I even have a sign hanging in my living room that says, “Live Simply, Love Deeply” in pretty swirling letters. I liked it when I bought it, but this morning in the midst of a happy crafting mess (paper, markers, crayons, tape, coloring books, glue, and scissors strewn about the room), in the little corner spot of the couch I had to clear of debris, I sit. I sip my coffee. I stare, eyes squinty and head cocked to the side, at the sign hanging on the adjacent wall (children snipping bits of paper and singing in the background.) I read it and I think, What does that even mean?

What does it mean to live simply? That’s a good place to start. Does it mean doing less? Does it mean being home more and out of the house less? Does it mean owning less stuff? Spending less money? In that moment on the couch it meant, for me, less art supplies! Does it mean less organized sports? Less technology? I’m sure I’m ruffling some feathers at this point, but I’m thinking in general it means less. However, we are busy humans. We don’t just sit and stare. We get bored. We are always thinking, always doing, and, frankly, we like it that way.

Many books, Christian and non-Christian, have been written on this topic. One writer has gone as far as to encourage her readers to gut their closets and get rid of all but seven outfits– after all, you really only need one for each day of the week, right? Other people have written on the value of rejecting modernity in favor of a pioneering/farming lifestyle. In my summation, this is really just trading out one type of busy for another, but I don’t doubt this is favorable to those who choose it. These books seem to have all the answers, don’t they? Just do this and this, and then you will be able to breathe again, then you will be… simplified?

But my question is, Are we, just maybe, seeking after something that can never really be obtained this side of Paradise?Maybe seeking simple is really just another way we are all chasing after the wind. Is simple living just a vapor that cannot be grasped or is it a valuable state of being that should be sought after, striven for, and attained?

You see, it’s hard for us women, isn’t it? I mean, it’s crazy really! We want to simplify. We think we see the value, but then we begin to spend an awful lot of time and energy on the actual endeavor. It’s like we quite literally can’t get out of our own way! And I feel like this all the time. We make plans to simplify. We set aside special time, and we write it in our planners. We print out those pretty little printables we find on Pinterest, “Simplify in 30 Days” or “The Minimization Checklist.” It all looks good on paper. But then, two months later we still have only one box checked, and we berate ourselves for missing that appointment, for failing at that. It’s kinda’ nutty. Is my life really so busy that I can’t even set aside the time to clean out my closet– if that really is the key to simplicity anyway.

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