How Simplifying and Being Content Influences Your Family

How to live a simple life and be content with your FAMILY time.

Family time. I think for many, this is becoming a foreign concept.

Do you ever wish you could spend more time with your family? What is keeping you from spending time together as a family?

Technology – I think that can be the biggest killer of family time. Where do you draw the line? No phones at the table? Limiting hours in watching tv? How does technology invade your family? It really amazes me how much kids are on their phones these days! I know I sound like I’m 90 years old and am not “with the times,” but when I think it starts to invade on what I call the “important” things in life such as family time, yes, I think it’s too much.

Here are a few more thoughts regarding technology:

• Have you ever thought how buying a new piece of technology will affect your life and what it will lead to next?
• Pieces of technology that say they will save time and money? Have they?
• How are electronics time-stealers?

Moving on…
What kind of traditions do you have with your family? What traditions can you start this year as the holiday season approaches?

What have you learned from your parents? Any skills? Are you passing them onto your children? I can’t tell you how many times I think “oh, I don’t want that art to get lost…such as crocheting or knitting.” I can be a sentimental person when it comes to old-time skills – living off the land – learning to be self-sufficient and not need all these “extra” things to run my life. What are some simple things you can do to keep the simple things moving from generation to generation? For example, when was the last time you wrote a handwritten letter to someone? I am completely guilty of just quickly sending someone an email. But don’t we ALL love getting personal mail? (With our name actually spelled right – meaning it’s not junk mail!)?

What about all of our extracurricular activities that we participate in? What outside commitments keep us away from our families or husband? By saying the word “no,” you are committing yourself to raising your family – one of the most important “activities” you could be doing. I used to have SUCH a hard time saying no – I was (still can be) a people pleaser – hence my issues in not being able to say no. I remember there were nights when Dan and I would be hanging out at home on a weekend night and be bored out of our minds because we never spent time together just US TWO. It was sad. We had to make some drastic changes – it was as easy as just spending more nights together just us two. Duh! Easy fix, but it was hard adjusting to it. I know, sad, but we were just so busy running from one thing to another that we failed to spend a lot of time together and spending time where we needed to most – on our marriage.

What do you bring into your home that you don’t want influencing your family? For example, what  is allowed to be watched on tv, searched on the internet, and other media options? I remember going through some of my cds awhile ago and thinking “why do I have this?” What redemptive purpose did some of those cds have? NONE. Out of the house they went. I am still working on this in my life (like what’s okay, what’s not). It’s hard. I think for everyone it’s different – but, as you look at your family, what is influencing their world? Are they positive influences or negative?

These are just a few questions to ponder as you consider living a content and simple life as a family. By all means, I am not looking to do an exhaustive “study” on being content, but these are just some ideas that I have put together after I have read many books, thought about it deeply for the past couple of years, and tried a few of these things in my own life.

This is all just coming from a woman who is just trying to live a life for Christ and am thankful for God’s grace daily. I am not saying I am an expert in all of this – I am just sharing my thoughts and hope that we can all keep thinking about how we can live more simple and content lives.