Thirty Days of Almost Nothing Continues

We left on Sunday for the cottage and we stayed until Wednesday night. It was great fun to start the home school year off up there. My kids think a swim break for recess is very cool. The one disadvantage though is that I did not have access to the Internet to keep up with the blog. Sorry to all of you who were checking for a new post. Thanks for being faithful. We are more than a week into our "Thirty Days of Almost Nothing" experiment and I have learned some things about myself.

I am addicted to large Ziploc bags. I am embarrassed to admit it but I have found that they have been the hardest thing for me to give up. I know that they are not a necessity but I miss them. I realize that I use them for everything. Of all the things in the world to miss I am sad that I seem to have fixated on the Ziploc. My head knows they are terrible for the environment and that there are way better ways to store things but I find them easy and my routine is messed up without them. Isn't it funny how some things become so much of a routine that it throws us off when we change them. It is a good reminder to keep adjusting the routine so I don't get too comfortable. Who knows what I could start to latch onto next!

Another thing that I have learned is that I like the rest from choices. I like not having a choice about buying things. I know that sounds a bit weird but too many choices and options tire me out. I get overwhelmed walking into big box stores or even little box stores. All the packages start to look the same, my eyes begin to blurr and I often come home with a product that I didn't intend to buy. It drives me crazy. Does anyone else wonder why we have to have fourteen different choices of mozzarella cheese with only slightly different packaging? All I want is plain old real mozzarella cheese. But I have to sift through no fat mozzarella, probiotic mozzarella, light mozzarella, smoked mozzarella....oh it just makes me want to get Velveeta! I know it is kind of weird and not really real cheese but at least you know when you get it home it will be the Velveeta that you thought you were buying. Do not even get me started on yogurt... I love yogurt but I will be honest I don't miss buying it because I can't stand trying to pick one out in an aisle that seems to grow weekly. Really do we need this many choices??? I don't and so I have realized that I like the rest and the freedom in having less choices to make.

The third thing that I think I am starting to learn about is that an awareness has awakened in my brain and in my heart. I think God began it a while ago but I was not really sure what it was about and I still don't think I know what the whole picture looks like. He is starting to put more of the puzzle together though. Some pieces I have picked up along the way are a discomfort with the normalcy of our family's consumerism, a questioning in my heart of who is my neighbour?, and conviction that my circle of neighbours is not just people who I see face to face in my daily life, they may be people that I never and will never meet and yet we are connected because we are all made in the image of God. We have spent the summer as a church going through the book of Ephesians. If you have never read it I highly recommend it and if you have read it, read it again. There are so many nuggets of treasure to mine. For me, to dig into Paul's words to the Ephesians has been not only challenging but also exciting. I love learning about Godly relationships. It gives me hope that things can be different. They should be different. God intended them to be different. All of this relates in my brain. Really truly it does! It is not quite formulated into a plan of action but it definitely is all part of the picture that He is revealing to me every time I give myself an opportunity to sit still.

I saw a great quote on a bench today when I was in Stratford. We were early for our play to and so we sat on one of the benches that they have by the festival theatre that overlooks the river. The quote was, "Sometimes we are most moved when we sit perfectly still." - Bell.

I took this photo on Tuesday morning just as the sun was starting to rise over the horizon. I was perfectly still. Only the birds and I were enjoying this moment as the sun began to rise up over Georgian Bay. It was one of those moments that make you hold your breath because you are swept up in the awesome beauty that is really indescribable and you realize that the same God that made this indescribable moment made you and everyone else that has ever drawn a breath. The final thing that I have learned so far is that the bench in Stratford is right. I am most moved when I am sitting still. Our "fast" from being caught up in buying allows for more time spent in His presence. I notice more of what is around me because I am not as distracted, I can focus more on what matters and I can sit still and I am enjoying the view.