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The Practical Disciple » simplicity/sustainable living

Making Just a Little More Room for God by Eliminating Déjà Vu

January 28th, 2010 | Add a Comment

Making Just a Little More Room for God by Eliminating Déjà Vu

I am striving this year to experience more contentment with less.  I want less stress, hurry, scurry, and stuff.  I want to make more space for stillness and being present to God.  That is taking some reordering of my priorities of time and space.  Freezer cooking was one of my first adventures into this.  It was quite successful.  For the past 12 days or so, I have eaten home cooked left overs and meals for … Read entire article »

Filed under: simplicity/sustainable living, time

A Word to You of Limited Freezer Space

January 23rd, 2010 | Add a Comment

Yesterday, I posted an article on saving time and money through freezer cooking.  That may seem like a strange post for The Practical Disciple.  It’s not like cooking ranks up there with prayer and scripture reading, but good stewardship of time and money does.  I am also posting these freezer posts because I find that there is a distinct need to help people with the raw chaotic order of their lives in order to attend to spiritual necessities like spiritual disciplines.  All that said, here is a word to those of you yesterday who may have felt a bit left out because 1) you don’t have freezer or 2) You are single or have a small household and casserole cooking just isn’t very realistic. TO THOSE WITH SMALL FREEZERS 1)  Bulk shop … Read entire article »

Filed under: focus, simplicity/sustainable living, time

Regarding My Clothes Line

June 29th, 2008 | Add a Comment

Someone asked me specifically about what kind of clothes line I am using. Mine is what I would describe as an umbrella style line. It stands on a single pole and opens like an umbrella and has 30 parallel lines along it, so you can hang an immense amount of laundry in a small space. The whole thing stands in a plastic sleeve place in the ground, so you can lift it out, fold it up and stowed if need be. I placed it and a similar line like it in the Practical Disciple Resource Center for those interested in seeing what I use or purchasing one. When you enter the resource center click on the “Other Resources” link. I also got a cloth bag that hangs from the line … Read entire article »

Filed under: simplicity/sustainable living

Back to Basics–my solar and wind powered dryer

June 27th, 2008 | Add a Comment

Back to Basics–my solar and wind powered dryer

I recently read “Serve God, Save the Planet: A Christian Call to Action” by J. Matthew Seeth. Seeth has practical wisdom regarding stewardship of resources. I found myself both challenged and informed about taking some steps to reduce. One thing that stood out in my mind was the irony inherit in our desire to limit labor in our lives. We pursue labor saving devices to the point that we become sedentary and unhealthy. Then we … Read entire article »

Filed under: simplicity/sustainable living

Limiting Distractions–clutter

June 21st, 2008 | 2 Comments

So much of hearing God’s voice is just slowing down which for most of us involves simplifying our lives. One way to isolate God’s voice is just to limit the many other voices speaking to us. Two years ago during Lent I decided that I want to work on simplicity. I did so by ruthlessly attacking clutter and excess in my life. Specifically, I set aside 40 grocery sacks in my closet and every day for 40 days, I filled and got rid of a sack. Many sacks went to the thrift shop in our church, some went to people I knew, and a surprising number were just trash. I learned a host of discipleship lessons during this discipline. One of the most profound was that everything we own, owns a … Read entire article »

Filed under: discernment, prayer, simplicity/sustainable living