On living simply.

 When I came to Africa I carried with me less than 5% of my wardrobe, plenty of medication and first aide materials, and a few other pieces of home that I thought necessary to live for a year abroad. This seemed simple enough for me. Yet, sometimes I look around me here and I am faced with conviction for "needing" too much. Should I feel this conviction? Should I live more simply, both here in Uganda and back in the states? Does it really matter?

The answer to these questions I do not always know. But I have learned that none of this is truly the point. The point is God. If I re-shift my focus to living every moment of every day for God then the rest will follow. Living simply looks like living for God. If we seek His Kingdom first we are free from being bogged down by such concerns. Jesus allows us to be free of worry, so why do we decline and continue in anxious concern about what is to come? Remember Matthew 6:25-33.

I have been meditating on the chapters of a wonderfully encouraging book entitled "The Live Dead Journal" and I will forever recommend it to any and all of you. Please be so encouraged by the following exerpt on living simply for Christ as I have been:

"As modern Christians we live as if a tightrope were strung between 'the land flowing with milk and honey' and 'sell everything you have and give to the poor.' We are greedy for more but need to assuage our guilt over what we have. We try to maintain a balance and call it simplicity. We risk falling into the net of idolatry either by embracing materialism and serving possesions, or by renouncing possessions and embracing legalism and ascenticism. But true simplicity emanates from medatating on the words of Jesus and then following His commands and His example. Jesus says, 'Fall into freedom; trust me, and stop worrying about what you do or don't have!' "

Fall into Freedom! It brings such beautiful imagery. Join me in beginning and ending each day in silence before God and seeking His will. Let us not be anxious and full of worry for what is to come in the next hour or in the next year. Let us live simply for our God in this chaotic world.