The Organized Heart by Staci Eastin

Like everybody else I know, I'm too busy. Every once in a while I reach a point of suffocation and have to step back and reassess all that I'm doing. I not only take on too much because I'm a people pleaser, but also because I'm a missionary and subconsciously think the more that I do the more our supporters will be impressed. Periodically the Lord has to pull me aside and remind me of HIS priorities for my life.

Staci Eastin's The Organized Heart was just what I needed for re-evaluating my responsibilities. I don't know who gave her a camera into my life, but she nailed me on almost every page of her little book.

Eastin's book is refreshingly different from other books on getting organized. Instead of chore charts and pep talks she gets to the heart of the matter by addressing our motivations for doing (or not doing) what we believe is important. She highlights four areas where women struggle: leisure, busyness, perfectionism, and possessions. And she has the nerve to call them what they are: IDOLS. Obviously, busyness is my biggest problem, but Eastin showed me that I also struggle with perfectionism and procrastination.

Fear of letting people down reveals that we are more concerned with what people think of us rather than what God thinks of us. Living to please others, and over-busying ourselves in the process, is idolatry. (p. 42)

Personal pride can be a factor as well. She writes about a job she unwisely accepted, I had told many people about this great opportunity. Even the hard work and difficult subject sounded glamorous. But if I quit, I would have to admit my failure, and maybe the people who hired me would be angry. There was nothing obviously wrong with accepting this project, but a thousand little things in my heart revealed I had said Yes for all the wrong reasons. (p. 41)

Even though I felt convicted on almost every page, Eastin's book is clarifying rather than condemning. She reflects on stumbling blocks that women face and urges us to re-evaluate why we keep failing in these areas. She writes, It is my prayer that this little book will assist you in this struggle by helping you identify unhealthy motivations in your life, and urging you along on the path to holiness. (p. 91) When I finished the book I felt relieved and refreshed and ready to plan a schedule that was more pleasing to the Lord.

Interestingly, have no problem with physical stuff. I love to declutter. But I had never thought of my schedule as "clutter." Tsh at The Art of Simple wrote a neat post about this. Just as decluttering your house leaves you free to enjoy it (rather than be a slave to it), decluttering your schedule restores your joy in doing what the Lord has specifically called you to do. Wise words. Both Tsh and Staci helped me to take steps toward realigning my priorities. Thanks ladies!

Christmas Wish List

I loved this idea from Risa at BreadCrumb Reads who listed books she would like to receive for Christmas.

My wish list at Amazon is a mile long, but it includes many items of interest that are not necessarily books I'd like to own.  In recent years my library has been drastically reduced and I've written a little about why in two posts here and here.  All this to say, physical books have a much looser hold on me than they used to.  

BUT if I had to choose a handful of books that I really wanted, these would be on the list:

 

1) Towers in the Mist by Elizabeth Goudge - because you can never have enough Goudge.
2) Handbook on the Pentateuch (2005 edition) by Victor P. Hamilton - because I love teaching the Old Testament and this was one of the men who helped to ignite my interest in it.
3) On the Shoulders of Hobbits by Markos - because I read Return of the King and The Hobbit in 2012 and fell in love with Hobbit courage.

Books that I've read (and loved) and would like to add to my library (in gorgeous hardcovers, of course!):

  

4) Trollope's Barsetshire series
5) Middlemarch by George Eliot

Merry Christmas to all my fellow book lovers!  What titles are on your wish list?

Simplify by Joshua Becker

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE AREN’T THINGS. 

If you’ve heard Joshua Becker’s story or have read his blog, you’ll be familiar with minimalism: the philosophy that people need a lot less than they have.  His mantra is, We were never meant to live life accumulating stuff.  We were meant to live life simply enjoying the experiences of life, the people of life, and the journey of life – not the things of life.

Simplify is not your average book about de-cluttering (although that plays a part).  It’s about changing your attitude toward your possessions.  It’s about purposeful living that isn’t influenced by TV commercials, peer pressure or “keeping up with the Joneses.”  Minimalism is the intentional promotion of things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from it.

Obviously, this e-booklet has struck a chord with American consumers.  It has been a number one best seller since it debuted at Amazon in mid November.  In it Becker offers seven principles for enriching your life.  The first part entails letting go of stuff that consumes your time.  Whether we are cleaning them, organizing them, buying them, or selling them, the more things we own, the more time they rob from our lives.   The book’s second half describes the potential joys of being free from the burdens brought on my rampant consumerism: less piles of stuff around the house, less debt, less stress, etc. 

Becker calls himself a “rational minimalist” because he’s not as extreme as some others who espouse minimalist philosophy.  “Realistic” would be a better term.  He and his wife are realistic because they have not given up all their toys; they have two young children.  They are realistic because they have not given up all their extra dishes; they love to entertain.  They are realistic because they still buy clothes; but they buy much less and pay more so they’ll last longer.  They are realistic about television; they still have it, but only have a limited number of channels so they don’t spend too much time watching.

I don’t like clutter, but if I’m not vigilant, the house gives into it.  Once a year I need to read a book like Becker’s to remind me that I love clean closets, clear counters, and the peace that comes with being content with what I already have.  In Becker’s words, There is a life of simplicity that is calling out to you… It is inviting you to remove the distractions in your life that are keeping your from truly living. 

As we head into the Christmas season, a time when joy and peace are easily snuffed out with the pressures of consumerism, I was grateful for the reminder.

Minimizing My Library

What if you had to reduce your library from 600 to 100 books in one week? Recently I had to make just such a choice. When we left Brazil in 2009, we left all of our earthly possessions behind. Since our return to South America continues to be delayed I went back this spring to pack things up. I decided to keep only what would fit into five suitcases. My friends were horrified that I used so much of that space for books, but, honestly, I had more affection for those than for any knick-knacks.

Some of the decisions were easy. Ten percent of the books were missing or damaged beyond repair. At least a hundred books had never been read and were easy to give up because I had no emotional attachment to them. I had over 200 hundred children’s books, but since my youngest is now fourteen, I let most of them go. (That made me wince a little because I love children’s lit.) That left about 250 to agonize over.

I found several seminary students who wanted my theology books so I was glad to give them a good home (though I kept a handful of favorites). The non-fiction was easy to let go (again, for lack of emotional attachment). I cut my WWII library way down because I knew I could get most of those books through the library here in the U.S.

Surprisingly, most classics (including my beloved Trollope) did not make the cut because I knew I could replace them easily. However, anything by Dorothy Sayers, G.K. Chesterton or Elizabeth Goudge was sacrosanct. When it came down to it, why did the Clyde Robert Bulla’s books get left and Enid Blyton’s chosen? And why were Helen Roseveare’s biographies the only ones selected from all my Christian books? My choices may have been based on impulse rather than common sense, but all I know is that now that I’m surrounded by these old friends, I feel “at home” again.