How Living with Less Will Help Your Vocation

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The most unexpected year of my life was spent living below the poverty line with my family of four.

After my husband and I spent six years working for the same organization, we were suddenly laid off. We found ourselves jobless and homeless, with two kids. So, we did what any reasonable person would do in that situation; we ran home to my parents.

Of course, moving “back home” with your husband and two children is not something you dream about on your wedding day. It was not easy on our pride or our family dynamic, but since we could not afford the high Denver rental market on the hourly job my husband had picked up in the meantime, we were grateful.

We also made it clear to my parents that we wouldn’t be total freeloaders. They were already providing us with a place to live; we couldn’t depend on them for all the other needs we had in caring for our growing family.  What unfolded in this season, then, was a great lesson in living with less.

We quickly learned how to separate our life into two categories: the “necessities” and the “extras.”  

Growing up in an upper-middle-class lifestyle, I innately developed a consumerist mentality, which naturally made its way into my young adult years and eventually into my marriage.

Even as a high school student, I remember making a daily trip across the street to Starbucks to buy an overpriced version of a milkshake and claimed it was "coffee" (vanilla bean latte, anyone?).  Spending money on these “extras” was something that never really needed justification in my mind.

The line became a bit more clear when I married my husband. He grew up on a midwestern dairy farm, in the true essence of blue-collar living. Nothing went to waste, and everything had a purpose. Watching his parents own and operate their farming business also taught him about living by and balancing a budget. God knew what He was doing when He brought us together!

Even after marrying my husband with his budget-mindedness, I still hadn’t grasped the importance of living simply until that year we moved in with my parents, when we had no money to spend on these “extras.” Even more surprising was how living with less made us feel more. More full. More free. More open to whatever God was asking of us, because we were less attached.

Spark a lasting joy.

This isn’t really a new concept. In fact, you may have even dabbled in a bit of simplification yourself (props to Marie Kondo for making it mainstream). Or maybe you’re like my husband, and you’ve grown up with a much different mentality than me. But if you haven’t, and you need some convincing, consider the benefits one gains from living with less.

1. It helps you grow in humility.

By foregoing the "extras" in life, whether by choice or by necessity, you learn to accept and appreciate the charity of others. This is hard, but it is a sure way of shaving off your prideful edges. In order to feed our family during that year, we had to sign up for food stamps.

At first I dreaded paying at the grocery store with them, but I quickly got over the stigma of being on government assistance, because my family was worth it! Ultimately it helped me realize that it's okay to accept help when you need it.

2. It makes you more open to God’s plans.

In Matthew 19, Jesus encounters a young man who desires to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. After some banter about following the Commandments, Jesus eventually tells the man to give away everything he has, and then follow Him. The man goes away sad when he hears this, for "he had many possessions" (19:22).

The more we buy and own, the more attached we become to the things of this world. We must not forget that our end goal is Heaven. In my family's case, living less-attached during that year gave us the openness in saying "yes" to whatever God called us to next.

3. It gives you lasting happiness.

I am always amazed at how my kids get more joy out of playing with a cardboard box than they do with the fanciest, coolest toy in the world. I think we all can learn something from that. The simplicity gained from opening up your home and your mind by decluttering your life is long-lasting.

It also gives you a greater confidence and clarity on what is most important to you: Do I really need this? Will our lives be much different without it? What difference does it make if I don't go to ____? These questions are now second-nature in my decision making, and the answer to each (usually "no") is always so freeing!

4. It benefits your vocation.

Finally, if you start learning how to live more simply now—especially if you're not married yet—it'll make you that much more disciplined for when you're no longer just living for yourself. Financial issues are among the greatest of stressors for married couples; wouldn't it be great to free yourself from some of your material attachments before bringing another person (and future children) into the mix?

You may not have a season like mine, where circumstances force you into simple-living, but I will tell you that since that year, we have continued and even deepened our model of minimizing. Challenge yourself to live with less, and you'll be surprised with how much you gain!

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