simplicity

Sometimes I long for a simpler life. I listen to lyrics from country music songs and wish that my life was as trouble-free as the lives sung about out on the porch… soaking up sunsets and sipping sweet tea. Even as I sat down to write this blog entry I confess that my mind spun a million miles an hour. Planning… analyzing… thinking ahead… thinking behind. It took a solid couple minutes to slow down my mind enough to think about what I would write       in     this     present      moment.     Simplicity. Why does the thought of something so simple seem to relentlessly and unknowingly slip through our fingers?

Chances are you are either reading this as a woman or someone who has been close to a woman before. And I, as a woman, can tell you something I know to be true about ‘our kind’ across the board. We analyze everything. Even in the midst of having a conversation, sipping coffee, and wondering where that lady across Starbucks got her cute boots, we are puzzling together each word, tone, facial expression and emotion being conveyed by the person across from us. And even though analyzing has earned itself awards from the world’s best thinkers, caused breakthroughs in areas of Psychology, and has even brought together Billy Crystal and Robert De Niro in a pretty funny movie- I believe it can rob us of a life lived in liberating simplicity.

Austin and I have been married close to 16 months. And sadly, I don’t think there has been a more frequent victim of my over-analyzing than this man. Are we communicating enough? Am I challenging him? Is he challenging me? What does it mean when he speaks in that tone? Etc. Etc. To be sure, these questions are great ones to ask in any relationship. But do these analytical tangents keep me from enjoying my husband? Do they keep me from noticing the potential of each moment that I’m with him? And if I’m honest, the answer is yes and maybe… just maybe… it’s time to simplify my marriage.

A life lived simply not only allows us to uncover the purified joy found in the present, it gradually removes us from being swallowed up by our own mind. Too often I find myself consumed in Kristin’s problem-solving mode. I do my best to conquer issues that come up today, plan for issues that will come up tomorrow, and strategically side-step issues ahead in the coming months. Before I know it, my thoughts are bouncing around like a million rubber balls in an enclosed racquetball room- leaving me overwhelmed and with no racquet to fight them off.

That’s when it hits me (like a rubber ball in the face.) I long for a simpler life because that’s where God is. He created me with a simple purpose: To bask in His presence and invite others to experience it with me. So without over-analyzing the good news of this life found in Christ, I invite you today to bask with me. Simplify your life. Enjoy your relationships. And there you will find the God that will never over-analyze you waiting out on the porch with a sweet tea and open arms.