The Simple Life

"Live simply so that others may simply live."

I want to be back in Mexico. Yeah, it was hot and dirty. We stunk and there were flies everywhere. The plumbing was bad and we slept on a cement floor. It just felt right. And not the pat-yourself-on-the-back kind of "right"...like the this-is-why-we-exist kind of "right". Like we were exactly where we were supposed to be. You could see it in everyone's eyes. I was working alongside my Jesus family - some of my favorite people on the planet - building houses for people who were living in cardboard shacks. And I could just do that for the rest of my time on earth and be just great. 

I've been wondering why I felt that way and a couple of people helped me understand why last night. First of all, because we were experiencing a foretaste of heaven. There was an unbelievable amount of just pure love and service that was infiltrating within our group, out of our group, AND into our group through the people we met there. It was just all around us. You could taste it and smell it. (And the smell of love overpowers the smell of dirt and sweat any day!)

But the other reason is because life was/is so very simple there. For 6 days, all we had to really worry about was eating, sleeping, serving, loving, worshipping, and hanging out...shoot we didn't even have to worry about hygiene! It was such a beautiful escape from our lives here that are just so full of activity and work and debt and business and hair dryers and make-up and "stuff". Sometimes people come back from 3rd world countries and say that they are now so much more appreciative for what they have. Not so much for me. I come back with a frustration and annoyance with all that I have. Frustrated because it's just not right - that the vast majority of the world can live in poverty so a small minority can live in comfort and ease. And then annoyance because my possessions are a major part of my complicated life. I want a more simple life. But how in the world do you do that in a culture like ours? It definitely would take a counter-cultural mindset. But I want to seek that out. When I look at my life, I can so clearly see areas where I have complicated things to the max. I want to start breaking that. And I'm not even sure how to do that, so I welcome your advice if you're reading this! :)

In other news, my flip flop broke at work today. And I wasn't really concerned about it when it happened, but then I realized: I don't have a shoe. So I was basically stranded at my desk, while various co-workers came by and offered their advice on how to repair my flip-flop and my boss gave me a speech on how I should always be checking my apparel before I leave the house so as to ensure that there are no defective items of clothing on me. Nothing was working...so I finally just gave in and stinkin' taped the shoe to my foot. 

So I have to go to Old Navy during my break to buy a new pair of navy flip flops. But do they have navy in a size 10? Of course not! In fact, they don't have ANY normal colors in a size 10, and I'm sorry...I just refuse to buy neon green flip flops. You can only have like one outfit that could possibly match neon green flip flops. So I'm annoyed but I refuse to leave Old Navy without a pair of shoes. So I end up having to buy a pair of $10 sandals that are cute...and I'll wear...but I didn't need. So now I spent $10 on some sandals that I don't need. And I still don't have any navy flip flops.

Living simply...