We recently packed up the crew and moved across town to the sweetest little 1960s fixer-upper. She’s got a whole lot of quirky charm and not a lot of electrical outlets. From the moment my husband and I walked in with our realtor we knew this would be the place we made home.
As move-in day rolled around, we packed and crammed and lifted and sweated. Somewhere amongst the sea of crumpled packing paper and cardboard we had to stop to hug it out a few times as morale dwindled, and attitudes took a turn.
We plopped down onto the kitchen floor like hundred-pound bags of concrete, cracked our necks, and looked around taking inventory of all that was still to be tackled. But for now, we are done. We did it.
Well, everything was out of the U-Haul at least.
The next morning it became quickly and abundantly clear that we needed to get a move on finding everything a place before another box of fine China was used as a monster truck arena. So that’s what we did.
But when we got to the bedrooms we found ourselves scratching our heads and laughing nervously to keep from crying, maybe. There were more clothes than there was closet space by a long shot. Even after purging and donating what felt like more than half of our belongings, we couldn’t even close the closet doors without risking them popping off their hinges. Even then there was still a king-sized bed’s worth of laundry behind us and no room in the inn.
A bit panicked, I twirled a hanger around my index finger and racked my brain for a solution, to no avail. I gathered breath between my cheeks until I couldn’t anymore and let it out like a balloon that had a hole in it.
A revelation stopped my exhaling in its tracks.
Smaller closets.
Our sweet little bungalow was built in 1964, to be exact, which means that she has seen six decades. Sixty years ago, times were simply – simpler.
They had less because they required less. The idea of walk-in closets, massive master bathroom suites, and ten-foot-long kitchen islands was unheard of. The pressures that exist today just didn’t exist then. Social media ads, brand commercials, our neighbors’ highlight reels, reality TV, and the ability to purchase anything in the world with just the click of a button; all cultivate a crazed sense of urgency for more.
With the absence of these outward influences we are so driven by in this socially saturated, self-centered corner of history, families were able to focus inward on what mattered most – the ministry of family.
Add in that Christianity is on a downward trend and living your “best life” on the up and up, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise that as of last year, divorce rates have more than doubled since the 1960s, death by suicide has increased exponentially, especially in young adults and even children, and the moral compass as a whole has become reversed.
So, what am I getting at? Call it fact or opinion, but it’s simple, really. The more we fill up on stuff, the deeper our false sense of independence from Christ takes root. Why would we need God if Amazon has free next-day shipping? Now listen, I don’t think that is the actual thought we have when we are scooting our Jesus pot to the back burner and putting it on low heat.
I think it’s been a little-by-little thing. Scrolling apps for hours has slowly taken the place of quality time. Going through the drive-through is easier than trying to get everyone around the table. Throwing our kids in front of the TV is choking the life out of intentional, hands-on parenting. Frenzied shopping on demand to keep up with the latest and greatest has caused our gaze to shift from storing our treasures in heaven.
While none of these things is inherently wrong per se, there is no denying that we have bowed down to the golden calf of greed and instant gratification.
So, what’s the solution?
It’s simple: Be different. Silence your Instagram notifications, turn off the TV, and get on the floor with your babies, who, by the way, do not care what you’re wearing or what year your car was made. Reframe your mindset. Instead of “I need that” try, “I’m so grateful for what I have.” Seek out your contentment in the well that will never run dry. Allow the One who satisfies to satiate the deepest longings of your heart with more of Himself.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:2).
