Celebrate the Simple This Summer

 Simple Summer

I posted this picture from Instagram this week. It was just a snapshot and a thought in the moment, but it seemed to resonate.

Weeding the garden earlier today. It was a quiet and peaceful time. Rather than see it as a chore to complain about(which I am prone to do) I decided to embrace the time. I prayed. I sang. I thought about how I continually have to weed out my sins. They are so quick to grow and choke out the good fruit of my life if I don’t get a hold of them. I absolutely love summer and the heat. I was sweating out there and thinking how that is used for good. Sweating out those toxins and letting each drop be a sign of hard work. It’s a good thing. Summer is a gift of time to slow down. Embrace the simple. Take time to reevaluate, renew your spirit and slow the pace. Soon enough cool breezes and fall will be back and we will be running around busy (and most likely complaining how about how busy we are!) So for now, I weed. I sweat. I praise. #postureofpraise #simplesummer #enjoythesimple

A post shared by Karen DeBeus (@simplylivingforhim) on Jun 19, 2017 at 7:08am PDT

As I thought more about it throughout the days following I realized that many can relate because:

1. We all have weeds that choke out the good fruit in our lives.
2.  Many of us tend to approach a chore with the mindset of complaint.

Raising my hand. 😉 I do both of the above.

First, let’s talk about the weeds. Just like those pesky little plants that grow in my garden and threaten to take over the beds if I don’t daily pluck them, the sins in my life do the same. I need to constantly keep in check those things that want to choke out the good fruit in my life. For me those sins will be different than yours. But for instance, I struggle with anxiety- just when I think it’s under control and I don’t really have to check on it, it threatens to overtake me. Like a garden bed left unchecked.

The best way to keep those sins under control is to keep the garden watered, filled with nutrient-dense soil, flooded with sunshine, and then I must persist in plucking the weeds that will inevitably grow. For us, we are well-watered with the Living water, we are flooded with the SON, and we have His Word as our vital nutrients. See how God does that? Beautiful life picture right there in His Creation!

And then there is the sin of complaining, which brings me to point number two. We all tend to look at the daily tasks in our lives that are not pleasurable and complain. But when we stop and put these things into perspective, we see that we do not need to complain. We can take time to approach the chores and tasks and thank God for them. It’s all about perspective.

We live in a complaining culture. Let us not be a part of that. Let’s embrace each moment, each task, and each breath-even the hot and sweaty ones-all for His glory. Chores are a part of life. They help us to grow and help us to work hard. All for His glory. Let’s practice a posture of praise in all things.

Join me?

This summer let us celebrate simple, spiritually refresh, and unplug even for a bit…refresh, renew, and refocus. 

Join me as we encourage each other for simple summer—>Videos and Blog Posts

Be encouraged this summer on the Simply Living for Him Ladies Retreat!

Still time to register and JOIN me in July!

 

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