I’m still on an online break, but a month ago or so, I wrote a little piece for my friend, Emily. She published it last week, so today I thought I’d point you in that direction:
“I had one trusty pair of jeans for our first seven months on the road until they ripped a giant hole in the upper thigh. (I bought new jeans in the old town of Split, Croatia and left my old pair on the lid of a trash can nearby, hoping someone would repurpose them into something useful.)
We’ve been back for over a year now, and over and over again, I hear God asking me the same question I was asked in the savannah of Kenya and the rainforest of Sri Lanka: Can you live with only what you need?
It’s harder to do this in regular life, when my days are more about stirring soup than standing in visa lines. Invitations to volunteer, a bajillion extracurricular options for my kids, an onslaught of stuff to read via Facebook, constant sales at every store on the corner (40% off! This weekend only!) taunt me like they do you, I presume. Maybe I could use another pair of flip-flops. It wouldn’t be that big a commitment to sign the kid up for another season of volleyball.
The structure of our culture’s surroundings asks us to the do the very opposite of traveling light. It teases us with an idea that life would be better if we just had more, did more, were more.”
Head here to read the whole shebang and to share your thoughts.
I hope you’re having a good summer…. To stay in touch with me, sign up for my monthly personal email. (I’m still doing that, because it’s my favorite.)
