Some people like options.

Sometimes I trick myself into thinking that I like a lot of options.

Do I really though?

For me a small list of places to eat out is sufficient. Getting the same dish at those restaurants is also common for me. A trip to the Cheesecake Factory; however, is the antithesis of my simple approach. There are pages and pages of items from every type of cuisine. I pick something off the one-page daily specials list. I ignore the rest. I do love the food for the record.

For me a small closet of items to wear is sufficient. Getting up and mixing/matching outfits isn’t for me. I wear many of the same things each day and have very few trivial decisions to make each morning.

For me having 5-7 places to watch TV (if you include PC with Netflix and my Macbook) is too much. I could live with one TV in a house and the ability to watch from a Mac. Less decisions. Do I want to watch Television in the basement, the family room, the kids room, the bedroom, the office? Too may choices.

If you want to make me impatient, then offer me infinite options. If you want me to make a quick decision, give me a couple options at most.

I’m off the purge the options. I’ll report back on my status. I’ll be going straight down the list.

So what the heck is up with the minimalism thing?

What’s with all the hype?

What does it even mean?

Who cares?

There’s nothing wrong with having stuff?

I have been a minimalist at heart for several years. I’ve just never had the courage to pursue it wholeheartedly because of fear of what others might think. No longer.

There is no hype. It’s just a way of living that helps me cope with the complexities of life. I like keeping things simple so I plan to do just that.

I’m not sure what it means by definition but the list below is what it means to me. That’s probably a better descriptor anyway.

I care and my family cares. I believe it was the Savior who said in Mark 8:36 what good is it for a man to gain the whole world yet lose his soul. The stress and anxiety of pursuing things and creating complex situations is not worth losing your purpose in life.

Sure inherently there is nothing wrong with owning stuff. Own all you like and enjoy what you do own by all means, just read my list before you do.

1. Because most often the experiences, relationships and memories are what we cherish in life. Not that putter I used back in 1994.
2. Because life is becoming overwhelming with it’s distractions. We have become a nervous, highly medicated, Type A society. There is no pace to life, no rest and no time for the things in #1.
3. Because what you really want is your time back. Not more money. Not more stuff you can’t use because you just don’t have the time.
4. Because every item you steward in your life requires you to manage it, organize it, clean it, maintain it or even worse obsess about how to put it to use. Get your things into circulation. Somebody may use them but nobody is using them sitting in your closet, garage, barn, shed, basement or rented storage unit.
5. Because every moment you spend doing the things in #4 is robbing your life of the time that really matters. Time to rest and have hobbies. Time to pursue your true passions. Time to seize the day. Time to give generously.
6. Because every moment you think about your stuff creates more moments when you think about your stuff. If most of your time and conversation is devoted to shopping, to what’s on sale, where it’s on sale, coupons, deals and promotions, then you can’t be spending much time making a difference in the world.
7. Because simple things work and complex ones typically don’t. I’ve seen it over and over where a simple solution enables action which leads to amazing results. Complex solutions lead to paralysis which leads to inaction.

Those are just a few of the major reasons why I’m moving to a minimalist lifestyle. What are your reasons?

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about bi-vocational ministry and micro businesses funding ministry. Sometimes I’ve been thinking of it in the middle of the night. The concept almost seems new even though the greatest missionary in the world, the apostle Paul, had a bi-vocational ministry. Today we’re seeing this model a little more, but typically when one thinks of doing ministry they think of stopping everything they are currently doing, and going into ministry. This means giving up current jobs, leaving a current business, raising support, maybe even enrolling in some type of schooling and beginning their ministry or missions work. Not that there is anything wrong with this model of ministry, but …

What if we took a different approach? What if we worked at jobs, or freelancing positions that allowed us to work 50% of our time and then we could devote the other 50% to our ministry. Whatever that ministry is for you and whatever the time breakdown. Even better what if a micro business was established that allowed us to fund our ministry while devoting time to each. Both examples would allow our ministry to be less of a burden to those supporting it. It may only require half the money raised from support, maybe just a fourth.

I’ve seen a good friend use both these concepts. He runs a small business, does some freelancing, pastors a thriving church plant called The Bridge Community and provides for a family of 6.

Last but not least, what if this model perpetuated itself. I’ve seen this model laid out on Peter J Daniels website. It’s a project called the Mele Village. In this model the micro enterprises are funded via a capital account and then they tithe back into the local church which I believe is of course the best first step in your giving.

Have you ever stopped to think about the costs?

What does it cost to maintain your current lifestyle? To live in your current home? To own your current toys? What does it cost to keep all the stuff in your life?

When you start to calculate you’ll probably just think of maintenance or storage costs. That would be natural. I have to think hard to see the hidden costs and I think about these things quite often. Well along with the maintenance costs there are the costs of time to move, sort, pick up, clean up, organize, sell, transfer, give away and pass things down. There is the emotional energy that those projects present. You’re making a choice whether you see it or not. You’re choosing to move your stuff from point A to point B versus ……….. Whatever you put in the blank is probably much more important. If you have any passions, any goals, or a faith that’s important to you; then is it worth the exchange? I know a lot of people who do amazing things with their stuff. I’m not saying you shouldn’t have stuff. I’m just asking you to calculate the costs of owning it.

Another area in which we lie to ourselves is the time and cost of our attention. Every phone call you allow to interrupt you, every email, text, twitter DM or Google Chat is costing you something. If you get interrupted 50 times in a given day ( I bet it’s more like 75-100 for many) , then you can’t possibly do your best at whatever it is you’re trying to accomplish. Each conversation must be factored in. Why not really ask yourself if every call is important. Remember a few years back, you didn’t have a cell phone, email, twitter, chat, text or Facebook. You still ran a successful ……………. You have allowed these tools to take over your life instead of mastering them. I have to. Your customers will understand if you return calls 4 times per day or check email 3 times. Why not save up 5 thoughts and then interrupt someone else to discuss them. Try it. You know it’s true and you don’t have to sacrifice customer service in the process. Your service to those you’re focusing on will get better. If you’re struggling with this, maybe, just maybe you’re taking yourself too serious. I do many times.

So where do I start cutting things out.

First thing that comes to mind is with commitments- both work and personal. I’ll be evaluating those over the next two weeks.

Second thing that comes to mind is selling our home and sharing a vehicle. This one has to wait a bit as we have our 4th child due in September. We have shared a vehicle off and on for 4 years. Lately we’ve had access to 2 vehicles and we’ve noticed how much less efficient we are. We just go, without thought and without plans. Before we had to be cognizant of each others schedule and we had to plan in advance. Did I mention we’re using a lot more gas and that gas is expensive? Did I mention that between our 2 vans we’ve had over $1800 in repairs? Will we be able to pull this off immediately? Probably not but it’s in the back of my mind because I’ve seen it work even with a large family.

Third thing is eliminating more stuff. I have always done a good job and keeping less around and keeping what I have organized. This is a relative concept though. I’ve done a good job compared to what- I ask. Compared to the status quo or the neighbors or what I see on TV or what I believe is an acceptable amount of stuff. If I really look at things; I wear the same shoes, the same pants and shirts while all the rest sits in the closet collecting dust. I still find myself with too many books to read. I find myself with too much software, and too many applications.

Time to purge. Freedom waits.

The definition of unencumbered is free from cares and responsibility or not burdened with difficulties. Well the Christian life is definitely not free from hardship, difficulty and pain; although, we often put too little emphasis on scriptures which keep us positive. Whatever is true, noble, right, pure …. . God did not give us a spirit of timidity but of power of love and of self discipline.

The Christian life also shouldn’t be free from responsibility. I often feel a desperation and burden when I think about what else I could be doing to build God’s kingdom. How else could I be used? How much more could I make myself and my resources available for this mission? So this move toward minimalism is not a cop out. It’s not an attempt to coast through life.

Seeking a minimalistic lifestyle is not an attempt to steer clear of pain, and stress and troubles. It is an attempt to live free from the bondage of debt. To live free from the bondage brought on by too many possessions. The bondage of having no time to invest in the things that matter most. That is the bondage I’m speaking of. Often I think of how great it would be to leave everything. To just sell it all or give it all away and then have the things that truly matter as the only things left. I created a funny but serious little list a while back. If I gave it all away what would I keep?

I called it my Hebrews 12:1 Taxonomy.

Leave yours in the comments.

Everyone deals with stress. Some of us deal better with it than others. I have traditionally dealt well with stress but in this past year it has certainly caught up with me on multiple occasions. The combination of a having a growing small business in it’s third year, a pregnant wife, 3 children under 5 and financial pressures from being overextended have led to two pretty severe panic attacks.

Both of these events have been wake up calls. Those of us who are extremely stubborn need multiple wake up calls. I have realized that I can’t do it all. I have to be more efficient in how I go about my business. I have to be more calculated in how we manage and raise our family. I have to be more reliant on God. He is the prince of peace and he tells me to cast my anxieties on him because he cares for me. The spirit and power that raised Jesus from the dead is in inside me. Yet I tremble in fear with a negative thought, a criticism and a situation out of my control. When you lack margin in your life in terms of time and finances, it certainly doesn’t help the situation. Well we have started to not only diagnose our situation but to put plans in place to overcome it. We’re going to do it day by day, trusting that God is disciplining us, teaching us and preparing us for higher things.

I’ll be putting a focus on my faith, my family, my health, my customers, my passions and a lot less focus on stuff.

Why am I doing this? I’ve learned to ask that question quite a bit lately. Maybe the question for you is something like:

Do we really need to continue this project?

Is this business strategy serving us well?

Why do we do it this way?

What purpose is being served by this event?

Am I spending my time on what I say is important to me?

It has served us well can be the death of learning and growing. Not that we need to fix things that aren’t broke, but complacency can keep you stuck.

Some of my thinking comes from Seth Godin’s book “The Dip”. When I read it a few years back, it really resonated with me.  Why fight and claw you’re way when you have no chance of being the best or one of the best in your business or field? Why commit the resources to something that has run it’s course? Something that’s not remarkable. Maybe the best thing some organizations and businesses could do is quit. Nothing wrong with quitting something that doesn’t make sense any more. It’s noble.

I make a motion we disband can be a honorable thing to do versus continuing through a dip when the results don’t warrant the effort. I wish more people had the courage to call it quits. Not to throw in the towel. Not to walk away from obligations. By no means do I mean that. I mean realizing that a new business, new product, new service, new cause or new organization makes more sense than running from the inevitable. So say bye bye to the status quo and change direction while you still have momentum.

For me shifting to a minimalistic lifestyle is my change and in the process saying no to many more things that don’t align with my passions.