Keepin' It Simple In 2013

Uh, oh, here I go, wading through a lot of stuff you know, 

Juggling it all while I’m balancing on a wire; 

Slow down, I have found, seems that every time I turn around, 

Got one foot in the muck and another foot in the mire;

Well, I’m scaling down, pulling back

Got to try to simplify ~ Wes King

A few weeks ago, a rash of One Word buttons began popping up all over my Facebook page and on my Blogger Reading List.

For those of you who haven’t the foggiest notion what in the world I’m talking about, the One Word concept is to focus on a particular God inspired word for the whole year, rather than wrestle with a laundry list of New Year’s resolutions you just KNOW will be broken by the third week of January (I’m being kind here. Usually, I’ve bombed out on most by January 2).

Melanie, over at Only A Breath, designs these marvelous One Word 2013 buttons to display on your blog, your Facebook page, your personal website or wherever. I first became aware of this last year when my friend Dawn Paoletta, over at Beneath The Surface:Breath of Faith, had one on her blog.  So, I decided to give it a shot this year.

Those of you who don't really know me, here's a truth: I’ve created a career out of making things in my own life…and the lives of others…more complicated than they need to be. What could be said in 25 words or less, I will say/write in 250 words or more. I fear blank calendars and Day Planners: empty blocks or pages just SCREAM for me to fill them with something. Or many somethings. And honestly? I’ve tried to accomplish so many things at once, I could be a professional juggler.

While I am far from reaching hoarder status, I do have a lot of stuff in my house. Too much stuff. Unnecessary stuff.

I feel as if I have….no, I KNOW I have so much clutter in my life – literally and figuratively – and the clutter and the complication have become a constant distraction from what is most important, or SHOULD be important to me:

• Jesus
• My family
• My health

I can no longer continue on this cluttered, twisted, rock strewn maze, because frankly:

It’s burdensome

It’s exhausting

It’s stressful

It’s ugly

So yes....Simplify is my One Word for 2013. 

Jumping onto the dictionary bandwagon, here are some definitions that resonate with me personally: to reduce to basic essentials; to make more simple and less complex; to eliminate those things that we don’t need.

Simplify.

It came as a gentle, yet persistent, God-breathed whisper in my ear, that turned into a stirring in my soul.

Simplify!

When Jesus traveled, to say He traveled extremely light is an understatement because as far as I know, Jesus didn’t have much of anything TO TAKE. He didn't even own a house. Jesus did and said only what was necessary. So He is Whom I look to as my example of simplicity. All through the gospels, Jesus found Himself in the middle of ridiculously large groups people. Yet, He focused on and tended to each matter, each need, each precious person at hand. Jesus kept it simple.

Simplify. I don’t know what this is going to look like for me this year. I doubt it will be pretty, swift or easy. Sincere and deep life change never is. And I sure don’t know how God is going to work this out in my life for 2013.

But that’s not my job to figure it out. That’s a job I’ll gladly pull from the juggling sphere and hand over to Him.

Just tryin’ to simplify. 

Unexpected Gifts

Whenever this happens, my heart stops— I'm stunned, I can't catch my breath.
Listen to it! Listen to his thunder,
the rolling, rumbling thunder of his voice.
He lets loose his lightnings from horizon to horizon,
lighting up the earth from pole to pole.
In their wake, the thunder echoes his voice,
powerful and majestic.
He lets out all the stops, he holds nothing back.
No one can mistake that voice—
His word thundering so wondrously,
his mighty acts staggering our understanding.
He orders the snow, 'Blanket the earth!'
and the rain, 'Soak the whole countryside!'
No one can escape the weather—it's there.
And no one can escape from God. ~ Job 37:5-7, The Message

 God calls to each of us during the course of our day, through the simplicity of His creation that surrounds us. But so very often, we are deaf to His voice and blind to the austere, yet at the same time, beautifully breathtaking unexpected gifts He offers us. We can allow ourselves to become so caught up in the activity of our lives, too busy to stop and smell the roses, as they used to say when I was younger. Or we can find ourselves held captive by our electronic devices, the very items we were told would afford us more time in our days. With our ear buds firmly in place and our eyes focused onto the screens of our laptops, iPads or iPhones, we miss out on so much, foolishly hoping to find in them fulfillment and satisfaction for our emptiness, loneliness and needful longings.

So may I invite you to slow down, disconnect from all things high tech to come take a walk with me as I point out some of what God blesses us with during the 24 hours we’re allotted each day. Drink in the vibrant color palette of a magnificent sunrise or sunset. Experience the refreshing coolness of a crisp fall day after a long, stifling hot summer. Listen to the whisper of a gentle wind as it blows through the trees, tenderly caressing each leaf. Breathe in the intoxicating scent and taste the sweetness of a honeysuckle bush (does anyone remember picking honeysuckle and squeezing the nectar onto your tongue as a child?). Check out the diamond-like droplets of morning dew as it sparkles upon the grass, flower petals and leaves. Feel surprise at the sudden brushing of a colorful butterfly’s wings against your hand. Be still and take note of the hushed tranquility after a snowfall or of the spectacular light show as lightening streaks across a stormy sky. Kick back and enjoy the nighttime symphony of crickets and tree frogs or the morning chorus of a variety of birds.

These are indeed life’s simple pleasures. The awesome, unexpected gifts that we can receive if we would only open up ourselves to receive them, each one hand crafted and lovingly fashioned for us by our Creator God, the Master Artist and Designer.

I made for the countryside,
And my eyes never grew so wide,
Apple, raspberry, river blue,
I don't wanna leave without you,
In the sound I'll gladly drown,
Into the emerald underground,
And I rub my eyes 'cause it's hard to see,
Surrounded by all this beauty ~ Dreams Don't Turn To Dust, by Owl City

Worship Song Sunday -- Shelter, by Sean Dayton

I do believe that the Lord led me to this song. Before today, I'd never heard of the song nor the artist, but as I listened to it, I was moved by the beautiful simplicity and comforting truth of the lyrics.


I was supposed to have been relaxing and enjoying my kids and their friends this past week while on vacation at the beach, but it seemed the enemy had other plans in mind. And that's a post for another day. So suffice it to say that after the week I just had, this song was like a soothing balm on a painful wound to me and the cry of my heart to Jesus.


I recently read that true worship not only recognizes the worthiness of God, but rejoices in it. I hope that this song will allow you to do just that.


Shelter, by Sean Dayton
Here I am again searching for a place
Where Your grace can show me rest
Will You lead me there with Your tenderness
With Your promise to protect
When I fall You lift me up
When I'm lost You are the way
You are my Shelter when strength is gone
You are my Refuge when pain holds on
And my soul finds rest..... in You Oh God

Here I am again leaning on Your strength
Leaning on Your faithfulness
You keep me sheltered here in Your warm embrace
A place to rest my head again
My fortress, my hiding place, my soul finds rest in You Oh God