Simply Put in this world- part 1

This week I have listened to people's hearts and have prayed somethin' fierce that God would use me for things I am passionate about. He has laid a series of simple thoughts on my mind and continues to use people in my life to challenge my thoughts and encourage me.

I want to share a few posts about living simply. What does it look like to honor God with our life?

What does it look like to live simply in a consumerism world?

Jesus said "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men". As a women, reading that verse makes me think of that song "it's raining men, hallelujah!". Praise God that he has placed such a perfect man in my life! For the single ladies out there, take peace in knowing that God does have the perfect person in mind, starting with Him.

I was thinking about what I usually set my cast my line out on. All of the things circle back to me. In this verse it doesn't say, "Follow me and I will give you a great house", "Follow me and I will make you super successful", it says "I will make you fishers of men, (a.k.a people)".

If I make my life about people, about serving people, how can I fail? I'm pretty sure no one ever said, "Geez, I wish I didn't just sit through that lunch and hear what's going on in her life." I have said, "Wow, I can't believe I wasted $100 dollars on new clothes that I can't fit in my closet".

Here are some practical steps I'm working on to make my life more focused on furthering the kingdom, so that "I" become less....

1. I cancelled the newspaper. There are a few reason's for this. The news in depressing and it cost money. Getting bombarded with the ads every week is not something that will help me simplify and need less.

2. Find a person that can keep you accountable, or in my case a blog. This is my form of accountably.

3. Ask God to change your desires. This seems so simple, but I have always thought I could go the store less on my own. Inevitably, always failing and spending more. I finally realized that I can't fight this battle on my own.

4. Find better ways to spend your time. Take a walk with a friend, invite someone over your house, call a family member to say I love you.

5. Stop living on credit. I am proud to say that we no longer have a credit card and own nothing except our house. I spend less knowing that it's cash. I highly encourage you to seek counsel about ways to live debt free. We red Dave Ramsey's book, but I'm sure there are other's out there to help.

Stay tuned for my next post about Simply Put- giving!