At Kedesh Santuario, the all-boys home we’ve been living at in Mozambique, I have been shown the value of simplicity.
Every morning for breakfast, our ministry host John reads a passage of scripture in Portuguese, one of the boys prays over the meal, and we eat oats. Every lunch and dinner (minus Friday’s and weekends), we have rice with either beans or greens. At night, we watch a movie with the boys and eat popcorn.
During the day, my team and I are involved with either painting, tiling, coloring with the boys, tutoring, helping the boys prepare the meals, feeding widows, and simply just playing with the boys.
Throughout this month in Mozambique, I have found so much joy in appreciating the little things, like playing soccer for hours, trying to learn volleyball, playing card games, climbing trees, working out with the boys, throwing water balloons, getting soaked with water almost everyday, watching the boys chase the animals, and hand washing my clothes.
This way of life is simplistic and I love it, but how hard is it to find pure simplicity in daily life? It’s so easy to add to the simplicity; adding unnecessary things we think we need in our lives in order to bring us more happiness. In reality, the more we keep adding, the more we become dissatisfied. The constant want for more becomes a vicious cycle that I have been guilty of falling into for most of my life.
Why is it so hard to find simplicity? Or maybe the better question is…why have I been so scared of fully embracing simplicity?
I think avoiding a simplistic lifestyle comes from a fear of losing the things we have accumulated that we hold dear to us, such as the luxuries of having nice cars, big houses, many clothes, and our own personal Apple products at our fingertips. Maybe it’s hard to embrace simplicity due to living in the American culture where advertisements are constantly telling us to get the “next” and “best” clothes, electronics, cars, and phones.
This month, I realized I crave the simplistic nature of life. And completely finding joy in the little things. But at the same time, I am realizing that it’s not bad to own a house, car, or iPhone. But now as my mindset is changing, I want to be able to appreciate and be content with what I do have in order to bless others. Because ultimately, these worldly desires and material items are all temporary. These things tend to give us a false sense of comfort and security. But our only true comfort and security comes from God alone.
So you know what? I love hand washing my clothes; I love not working out in a gym, but instead using a tree for pull ups and bricks as weights; I love running on uneven, dirt roads; I love rice and beans; I love getting soaked with water and making bread from scratch; I love the sound of laughter as the boys chase the chickens; I love climbing trees and card games; and I love to simply live life.
