The giant of a deployment that we were staring at has now shrunk in size, and this January finds Cory still home with us. This New Year also holds the promise of big changes for our family: a new job for Cory, a shift in priorities, and a renewed focus on time together as a family. God has been amazingly faithful to us, and there days I just want to shout from the rooftop my thanks to Him.
During this latest move, we had to downsize quite a bit. This new home is about 1000 square feet smaller than the one we were living in just 18 months ago. Suddenly we are so close together; privacy is hard to find, and when we're all at home, peace and quiet does not exist.
I often find the old country song "Little Houses" sung by Doug Stone running through my mind:
"Love grows best in little houses with few walls to separate. When you sit so close together, you can't help but communicate. If we there were more room between us think of all we'd miss..."
Yes, it is "cozy" in our new home, but I love it. There's more talking, more laughing, more loving. We play games, and go for walks and bike rides; we snuggle on our the love seat because there wasn't room in our new living room for the couch. We are learning respect, and we are getting to know each other better because there's really no hiding in this house. It's wonderful.
Our house is not the only thing we've downsized this year; life is easier to live without the physical, material "stuff" cluttering it up, but it's also much easier without the emotional drama of over commitment in our day to day lives. I've written before about my decision to cut Facebook out of my life, and I still maintain that it was one of the best decisions I've made in a while. Along with that, I've downsized my relationships, my desire for worldly possessions, and my need to put myself first. You see, Jesus lives in my heart; my heart is His home, and if you know Him, the same is true of your heart. When we fill our hearts and lives up with surface relationships, and "knowledge" resulting from gossip, and all of the other "stuff" that really doesn't matter to the "big picture" of what God has for us, we soon find ourselves living in mansion of nonsense with walls separating us from our Savior. His love grows best when we are sitting close to Him, and when we walk and talk with Him on a consistent basis; adding "stuff" just makes us miss out on the fullness of Him. Why would we want to do that?
I've been trying to teach our boys that life is more than video games, TV, friends, Legos, etc., etc.; I've started saying, "The world doesn't revolve around _____________ (fill in the blank)". It's funny when they turn around and say the same thing to me when I start obsessing about something. We are learning as a family that our lives are to revolve around God, and around His love and His leading. We may "miss out" on something our friends do, or be seen as "uncool", but our world doesn't revolve around "cool"; it revolves around eternity. I thank God for that.
I have learned this past year to listen for His voice, for His leading in just about everything, and in this New Year I would wish the same for you. I pray each day that He increases in our family, and that we would decrease; the smaller we are, the BIGGER He is, and I love that.
In Matthew 6:33 Jesus says this, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all of these will be given to you as well..." When we put Him first, and seek Him with all of our heart everything else fades, and we are filled when we realize that we know, and are known by the only One who's opinion of us matters at all..
Downsize...because love grows best in little houses; let His love increase in your life, and begin to feel fullness the likes of which you have never felt before.
"A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." Proverbs 18:24
