It's an overcast Saturday afternoon, the kind of day you'd like to snuggle up by the fire and drink hot chocolate and roast some marshmallows. In fact, we've had a lot of days like that lately. Yesterday I posted on my Facebook that I was tired of wet stinky clothes and towels and was ready to be rid of the perpetual mud by the outside door. Guess what? We had sunshine this morning and most of the clothes actually dried! (No, I didn't smell them. I simply folded them and put them in the cupboard cause I'm definitely not washing them again until we have more than a sunny morning!)

Joel & Missy arrived in Mindanao almost two weeks ago and already have a house! They are painting and preparing to move in these days. We are so excited to have new partners! They are another neat, fun family to have around. We love chatting with them and hearing all the things God has done to bring them here.... we first met Joel & Missy about 9 years ago when they were in training at Moody Aviation and Garry was doing some travel for NTM aviation. Pretty cool that we're now working together!

I've been thinking about distractions and the value of living simply lately. It is so easy to complicate our lives with too many things, too many expectations, too many relationships, too many projects.... too much of anything and everything! And as I've contemplated this I've realized that some things we can simplify and some things we can't.

Grocery shopping, for instance, is quite complicated here. My normal grocery shopping includes the outdoor market, two meat stores (one has pork and the other has beef and chicken), the egg seller, the milk outlet, the fruit stand, and the bigger grocery store. And no, this isn't a round-robin to save money or find the "best" of everything-- only eggs can be bought at another store, but my average buying them elsewhere is almost half of them being rotten. So, I make my rounds. And it costs me something in time, money, and mental energy. Not to mention that shopping is a relational experience here-- you don't simply go in and pull things off the shelves and check out. You either interact or be rude to the vendors. So, since I live here by God's call, this complexity is also God's call, at least for the moment until He gives me insight into a simpler way to feed our family!

On the other hand, I cleaned out my closet this morning because it was too full. It feels great to have it organized and actually have some extra space in there! Next week I'm going to attack my kitchen, which I think is pretty minimalistic, but I want to somehow clear out a little also.

What do you do to live simply? E-mail me or post a comment-- I'd love to hear your simple ideas!