Posted in Frugality-Simplicity

Simple Journey Ministries Presents

I Can't Live Simply Until...

Intentional Living

I started my adult life on a quest for frugality. Although I would like to say that I entered that life by choice. I can't. I would also like to be able to say that I chose the path of frugality as a means of focusing on stewardship. I can't. As with anything, God has given us  our lives as a process with peaks and valleys to help grow us up and transform us into the image of Christ.

My adult life was started in the depths of poverty. Not poverty as is experienced in third world countries. Not even poverty as is known in America. I was a young college student with little money. My story is the same as millions of others. If necessity is indeed the mother of invention, then I might very well be a mother in that area. I began researching options for living on less. God has granted me the wisdom to not only find that information but the ability to apply it everyday. Success with frugal living has been fruitful for our family.

Over the years our thought process has changed. Although our income increased, we maintained a lower level of living. We found contentment with our lives where they were. I recently taught about simple living online. If you wouldliek to hear the audio, you can purchase your ticket for the UHSE 2008 here. Oh yes, we did some extra things. We had the opportunity to take some wonderful trips and experience some things that others may find frivolous or desirable. When one of the littletons had turned 6 months old, he had been in three time zones, touched the Atlantic, Pacific, and the Gulf of Mexico, been to islands, gone from the east coast to the west coast to Pike's Peak, visited Mexico twice, been on two cruise ships,was a season ticket holder to an NHL team, had his jersey signed by several NHL players, touched the Stanley Cup twice, and visited Disney. That is A LOT. We joke that his life has been all down hill from there! 

Reading that you might think, WOW! You may even be thinking that we had reached a point that didn't require us to live frugally. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Often times when we see family's from the outside, we don't allow oursleves to get the facts, that will show a very different picture than what we conjure up in our minds. Let's check out that list on a more realistic level, shall we?

Here is how that all panned out:

• 2 Business trips (paid for by employers)
• 2 cruises (last minute dirt cheap fare + no air fare needed, because we live in Florida. Honestly if I told you how little we paid for those, you wouldn't believe me!) Parking was free because my husband is handicapped.
• NHL tickets cost so little because our team had always been the alst in the NHL. Being a season ticket holder we go to free events that have players available for signing and pictures with the Stanley Cup. Again parking is free because my husband is handicapped.
• Disney passes were purchased by all the grandparents as presents. Again, we live in Florida so there is little travel expense We camp, so accommodations at that time were less than $15/night, if we stayed in Orlando, which is close enough for us to drive to for the day.

Does any of that seem like what you thought? I would think not. Now add to that the fact that we have never had another year that has been equivalent to those 6 months. Hmmm...the picture keeps changing.

While I felt like I was living out of a suitcase for 6 months (which I didn't like at all) we knew this would never happen again in our lives and made a conscious decision to intentionally soak in all of the experiences we could. When one goes cruising, the basics are included in your fare (i.e room, food, and some activities). If you want a drink between meals, you pay for it. If you want to play bingo, you pay for it. If you want to take a class, you pay for it. Ports of Call are free to get off at, but you have to pay additional for any shore excursions and/or food away from the ship. I am here to say that we never ate accept at our given meal times, no extra drinks, no paid for activities, no shore excursions. We didn't do anything that required an extra charge. Money wasn't in abundance and well, we chose to take the experiences that were available at the lowest level of travel and we were content!

You don't have to have a whirlwind six months to live intentionally. We have continued to live our lives in this manner without all that travel. We do look back and discuss the fun moments of that time, but there are no better than other more simple experiences we have encountered. I get just as jazzed with the opportunity to hang out on the beach on a perfect day. Why, just yesterday my heart began to soar while sighting a ladybug traveling amongst the leaves of the brush in an area of undeveloped land.

So what is intentional living? Simply put to live your life intentionally is consciously choosing the lifestyle that you want and being aware of all that it encompasses. If you have chosen a life on a homestead with farming opportunities, be aware of all the experiences you have before you. When your child accomplishes something for the first time, engages in a new level of conversation, or just has a special look about him/her make an intentional mental note of the moment. Take time to note the changes God has made in you. Note the transformation that God is working on now. If you live in a city, enjoy the sites and sounds around you that are unique to that style of living. Take time to note those changing aspects of your husband (i.e. hairstyle, skin spots, thought processes, etc).

Every life is unique and filled with so many experiences that we often overlook. To coin a phrase, "Stop and smell the roses." Don't take for granted that they are there. Some day they won't be. It's that simple.

These are my thoughts.