Unlocking the Creative

 Many years ago, I read a book about simplicity in my quest to find out what faithful stewardship looks like. As a side note, I think that most people only have one main point of a specific belief/idea but they need to write 150-300 pages to create the perception of importance of what they are saying and so that people will be wooed to engage the conversation through their book. Many times, our lives really have only one major theme and we spend our time unlocking that in a variety of ways. But it can still all be summed up in one major life theme.

So, back to the book about simplicity; the main point is we need to guard our lives and hearts from materialism as it impacts, on many levels, our ability to steward. Their suggestion was that every year, we should find one thing of value in our home and give it away. As I thought through my house, most everything I had, was given/ bought cheaply/or donated to me. The execution of this specific principle in my life, was not going to impact the tenderness of my heart as it was laid out in the book.

I began asking the Lord,  "What specifically do you want from me in this context to keep my heart soft and not get swept away, even inadvertently, into the mind-set of materialism?" Within a few days, the thought that became clear was I needed to remove the tv from my living room where I spent time with people, to upstairs where it wasn’t so convenient. What was fascinating to me, was what that did for my home.

My house was built in 1939 which was before the tv had been invented. In my living room, I have a beautiful wood burning stove that was the center focal point of that room. When I removed the television from that room, peace immediately filled it. What had been happening was the tv and stove were competing for the central focal point in the room; that place where our eyes naturally rest. By removing the tv out of the room, the room came into alignment. So much so, even the other day when a friend came into my house, she asked if I had my home professionally designed?!

The other thing I think about with principles like this, is do I need to do that (give one item of value away) every single year or do I keep that principle/idea in the context of my decision making process and let it arise when the test needs to arise?

In 2009, I ended up going through one of the most difficult financial times of my life. It was through the series of choices made by another individual that created extreme financial challenges that I was not sure how I was going to navigate successfully. Before those events happened, I had already committed in my heart to buy a reasonably-priced, used car for a family in the community that I was supporting because I knew that having a car and dependable transportation is a key to breaking free from poverty. They had cleared up their own technical issues related to their driver’s license (which had kept them from driving for 13 years) and they were in a place to start driving their kids to school every day (which I had been doing for them).

But then, my car died. And the cost of repair was more than car itself was worth. I did need a car to make my own life work but I had not saved up what I would need to buy myself a used car as well as purchase one for the other family.

In this decision making process, the principle of simplicity began to weigh in: having my own car, is a privilege and not a right. The truth of the matter was that the majority of my life happens in a 3 miles radius and the family I care for was living next door so with a little communication, we could coordinate our lives so we could share a car and meet all of our goals.

For the next 6 months,  I shared a car with this family until I saved enough to buy my own. People interpreted my gesture as being so kind and generous but the truth was, I did what I did because I make choices based on my life principles. If I am committed to keeping a soft heart that is free from issues such as materialism, then that was the choice that I needed to make in that season. It wasn’t easy to share a car on many levels, but I needed to do it for me to continue to guard my heart. It was more important for me to keep my heart soft before the Lord then it was to have my own car for a season.

So, what is it that the Lord has asked from YOU to help guard your heart from materialism?