A Simpler Life
where local transportation is less than a dollar,
tv screens are scares,
people aren’t drowning in portion sizes,
women are fully clothed in advertisements.
where no one is turned away at church because this culture has accepted that everyone is broken,
smiles are genuine – not forced,
all my things fit in a 40L pack and a small backpack but still all I need is one book.
where personal space is an unknown concept to strangers on buses,
the air lacks the unpleasant and all to familiar stench of pollution,
the soundtrack to each night is raindrops on tin roofs and buzzing of bugs – not cars and sirens,
babies are tied to their mothers backs in colourful cloths – instead of strapped into thousand dollar strollers.
where the majority of land is covered with trees, rock faces, vibrantly coloured flowers & bushes – rather than industrial buildings, highways, factories & suburbs,
good fresh food doesn’t have to be “organically grown” & over priced – it’s just freshly grown,
where kids kick soccer balls for fun instead of mindlessly staring at & tapping screens,
where prayers are said out of desperation not obligation
It can be a hard concept to grasp for some – living simply – but if you can take a step back, and ask yourself: “what of all I have truly brings me joy?” If you can stop and just look and take in the little things around you. Slow down and engage in conversation with someone instead of putting your headphones in. Smile at someone who others avert their gaze at. Stop buying things you don’t actually need. Be content with having less, going last, thinking about others first. Be Jesus to those around you, everyday, in every situation. If you can do that, even one or two of those things, It’s simply a better life.
Once your eyes see true poverty, they can’t un-see it. Witnessing people living in shacks, making a wage of less than a dollar a day, who only own one pair of clothes and have more children than food to feed them makes one reconsider everything they have and do.
In 12 days, i’m giving up my 80L pack before boarding a plane to Ethiopia. I’m taking a step of faith and walking in obedience of what God is asking of me. For the last 3 months of the race I’ll be living out of my day pack, without a tent, sleeping pad or even a pillow. If these 3 months of living with next to nothing doesn’t fully ingrain what it means to live simply and plant an overwhelming thankfulness in my soul for all that I have been blessed with, I don’t know what will. I’m not worried or scared. I’m fully confident that the Lord will provide exactly what I need, when I need it, because He has never once let me down.
