If you have a chance I highly recommend poking around the site “The Simple Dollar” The author is a person who has recovered from some significant debt and suggests a strategy of frugality and simple living. I’ve learned a lot about personal finance from there and have been inspired to make some big changes in our life as a result. So check it out and enjoy the reads.
Today was Hawaiian shirt day. The thing I like about this style of shirts is that are very comfortable (when they fit) and they give a wonderful impression of relaxation. When I preach I usually wear one (a solid color or one with a simple flair, nothing over the top) so they are also a work shirt in a sense.
After going through the few that were in the closet I had to scour the room to find the rest. In fact even after I thought I had them all I continued to find a few more. In total there were thirty six (36) shirts. Again a months supply of just shirts! With the thirty from yesterday and the ones from today, that’s sixty six shirts. We haven’t even gotten to t-shirts, dress shirts, and all the other types of clothing! Wow.
Going through this pile was also much more difficult than the polos from yesterday. There are a few that I have an attachment too, and allowed myself to keep those even though one is a little tight. Most of the shirts just plain didn’t fit. Staining didn’t seem to be an issue, but the fit was awful. That made things easy, but when I got down to the remaining shirts, that was harder.
Most of the shirts I had are very nice. In fact my wife came in today while I was sorting the pile and commented, “You’re getting rid of that! I love that shirt.” Thankfully I could explain that it didn’t fit and it made it a little easier to part with. That brings up an interesting point.
This endeavor to unclutter much of my life is mostly something that I am working through. My wife hasn’t gotten on board just yet (and she’ll freely admit it so I’m not gossiping) so when she makes a commit like the one above, it can be easy to be distracted by the end goal. But I’m determined. I want to have a simpler life and right now our house is preventing that. Doing the laundry shouldn’t be a month long process just to get through the stuff that is already dirty!
So, after all was said and done I got down to ten shirts. Twenty six more off to Savers and another $3 coupon for any future purchases. After yesterday’s post I got to thinking that I forgot to include the biblical principle for this.
“If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.” Matthew 5:29
While you may not see having a cluttered life as sinful Jesus is saying that anything that causes you to be separated from God needs to be dealt with, no matter how far you have to go. For me a cluttered house distracts me from God. Time that could be spent in prayer or study or spending time with my family and friends is instead spent being frustrated and angry at the condition of our house.
I’ll encourage you again: what do you have in your life that is keeping you from focusing on Christ? Remove it! Do whatever you have to to “cut off your hand” so that you can focus on Christ and his kingdom.
So apparently, I’m addicted to clothing. I’ve been reading a blog called The Simple Dollar which has some great financial advice as well as living simply. One of the posts talked about having too much clutter. The story basically discussed all the bad mistakes the author had made and how it lead to some pretty large financial troubles.
I’ve been thinking for a while about the disaster that our house is; Hannah even comments that it’s so overwhelming that it makes getting anything done impossible. The thought of the amount of work is paralyzing.
So with all I’ve been reading and thinking and feeling lately I finally decided to do something about it. Little steps though. I can’t just clear out the entire closet as that would take way too long and too much work, but if I take a little bit at a time, say one type of clothing, then it might be manageable.
Today is polo day. After scouring our room I found I had 30 polo shirts. 30. Three-zero. I could go an entire month and never do laundry and have all the shirts I need. I probably only need seven at most plus a couple of long for the winter. My limit was 10.
I set the rules as this: 1) anything that was stained, goes and 2) anything that didn’t fit goes. I can always buy more shirts if I need them, but really…! It took about half an hour and most of them were stained; a few were frayed or had holes, and only 2 or 3 actually didn’t fit. When all was said and done I had 8 shirts and 2 long ones. Thus making my goal of only 7 polos. Tomorrow should be Hawaiian shirts which I think I may only keep 5 of. Got to think about that.
One of the ideas that Hannah and I have been kicking around for a while is the idea of Sam taking Kenpo lessons. For those that don’t know, Kenpo is a form of marital arts. Our thought behind this is that he really needs to learn some discipline, which he is just not getting from our guidance at home.
At women’s retreat a couple of weeks ago Hannah got to know Jeanette, who is the wife of an instructor that attends our church. As they talked about the issues we’ve been having with Sam, and the failed attempts at resolving the issues, she suggested that we give Kenpo a try. She related that she had been having the same issues with her son when he was younger, and that she put him in Kenpo for the same reasons.
On Monday night we finally gave it a try. The school just started the Monday class and this was actually the very first time that they were meeting for this new class. He (Sam) seemed a little nervous and unsure when it first started. Part of that may be that he didn’t really understand what he was getting into. I’d talked with him a little about what Kenpo was, that it was a martial art, a sport, etc, but I’m not sure he really understood.
They started off by doing some stretches and Sam, of course, started loosing focus on what he was supposed to be doing. The instructor, Laurence, brought him right back though and did a wonderful job of keeping him on track and redirecting him. He’s firm and no nonsense when it comes to the class, but also has a lot of fun too.
One of the things they learned was kicking. They started by working on the form and practiced by touching the wall with their foot. After he was sure that everyone understood and had the basic form down, they got out the pads and actually started kicking. Sam lost a little technique in the transition but Laurence put him back on the right track and he was doing the kicks great by the end of class. When it was all over and we were leaving I asked Sam what his favorite part was and he said, “Kicking the bag!” Big surprise 
We’re going to keep at it, and they are giving us a discount since we are church members (I’d love to go and learn too and they have a good discount for a family plan but I think I’ll wait until I’m done with school and have a little more time), which really helps. We’ll see how things continue and hopefully it helps Sam learn to control himself.
So Sarah had a special day at school last week that was called the “Brain Bee.” Apparently it was a day in which there was all kinds of special, educational, activities for the students to participate in. Games, contests, and other things filled the day.
Sarah was chosen to represent her class, along with one other girl, in the spelling bee portion of the day. Now one thing you have to understand is that Sarah, in her 3 years of school, has never missed a spelling word. She has a photographic memory! But when she had to get up on the stage and say things in front of a large group of people, she couldn’t (or maybe wouldn’t?) spell a word. She did good for the first couple of rounds, but after that she was done.
Here are some of the pictures from the schools website that she was captured in:
