Simple Living: Stewardship

I've mentioned briefly before our desire to live a life of simplicity. We have many reasons, some personal preference, some because of our line of work. We have found many ways in which we like to live out simplicity. But, one thing that we always go back to is stewardship. As you may or may not know, we fundraise our salary. Crazy, huh?! It's humbling to say the least. We have learned to really appreciate everything we have, not take anything for granted, and most of all how to be good stewards of the gifts we receive. Zach and I make it a point  that as much of the money we receive through our Mission Partners goes directly to this mission- towards bringing students into a dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ. We have found quite a few creative ways to be good stewards of our money. Sometimes we get crazy looks from people because we use cloth diapers for Flannery. Once again, its another chance for me to grow in humility, to sacrifice and offer that up for all the students we minister to as well as for all the intentions of our mission partners. And humility, as I have come to learn, is just a part of the whole mom thing whether you like it or not.

We're not perfect- we still have needs, wants, and selfish desires that we haven't totally mastered yet, but we're getting there! I've heard it said many times "anything worth doing is worth doing badly". So, we do it the best we can and welcome the freedom that comes from becoming more and more detached from money and material things. We have grown in our trust in The Lord, that he will provide our every need- and He has. We keep coming to realize how everything we receive is a gift from God, and to be grateful for it. When I feel myself slipping into self-pity or a moment of weakness I remind myself of the rich young man.

And behold, one came up to him saying, "Teacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?"...
Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."When the young men heard this he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions. (Matthew 19:16, 21-22)

Simplicity. Shane Claiborne speaks into this a little more in his book 'The Irresistible Revolution' (see more about it in our 'what we're reading' section). He describes the theology of enough. We need to stop preaching the gospel of prosperity and the gospel of poverty but instead preach the "gospel of abundance rooted in the theology of enough". And we've been told this time and time again by The Lord himself- most of us probably even say it every day. Ever prayed the Lord's Prayer? Give us today our daily bread- ring a bell? We're asking God to give us what we need for that day and that day only. Nothing has changed, The Lord has been telling us this from the very beginning, remember the manna in the desert? God told them to gather just what they needed for that day, He would provide exactly what they needed and He would do the same tomorrow, and the next day. He's still doing that. I've seen it happen so many times in my own life that I have to believe its true. Just earlier this year Zach and I had a HUGE car expense that we were not expecting and I had three emergency room visits while I was pregnant (preterm labor). Needless to say, our emergency fund was drained. God provided though, our tax refund ended up being almost the exact amount of those expenses. I'll admit, I had a bit of heart attack initially when I saw all that money leave our account- but I took a deep breath, remembered to trust in the Lord, and He came through like He always does!

I'll continue to post about the specific ways we like to live simply. Hopefully you'll be inspired to embrace the theology of enough with us begin to enjoy the freedom that comes with it!

- Meghan