Simpler....

I have often thought of different things I would do if I could start my married life all over again; intentional and simple things that would have helped us become debt-free sooner in our life.

Being debt-free is such a blessing, I haven't talked about it on here yet, I wanted to approach it in a way that would inspire someone want to make that their goal, I didn't want to seem as if I was taking a "holier than thou" attitude, and I don't want to seem judgemental of anyone who might have debt: we lived most of our marriage with it!

But the way debt complicates living is what we no longer live with...bring on the freedom!

Once we made it a goal to wipe debt out and live without it, it seems like life was made so much more simple, and we've learned to embrace and be happy with living a simple life!

I'm not where I want to be quite yet on simplifying all of my life, but I am learning. Getting rid of debt helps you realize there are endless possibilities when life is paid for with cash. In times like we are living, I am so glad that we started this journey about ten years ago, with a goal in mind of removing the burden of OWING others from our marriage and our life.

But I am going to tell you some simple things that looking back from the vantage point of 27 years into my marriage some things I wish I'd known:

I wish I'd started our marriage out with each of us purchasing ONE HUGE anniversary or birthday or mother's or father's day card, or for any other special day so each of us would take the time once a year to write our feelings to each other in that same card in give it to each other over and over. If we ran out of room we could have attached a piece of paper to it and kept on writing. How precious this would be with 27 years of love recorded in one place! I didn't know it then and maybe I'll help someone create a memory for their whole lives in this way.

Just think about it: when you're old and gray and sitting in the rockin' chair reading to each other the notes you've written over the years of your marriage....how precious to relive your life each time a special ocassion comes up!

A. It would have saved us hundreds of dollars.

B. It would have saved us lots of looking and stress.

C. It would have saved me lots of clutter, you know how it's just impossible sometimes to throw these sentimental things away?

D. I would have a card for each special day in the year that has it's own mini-history of our lives! That would be priceless and I wouldn't have a bunch of cards that are precious to me scattered around the house, under the bed, in the attic, in a sock drawer, they would all be in one spot and what a thing for our kids to hold onto and to treasure when we're gone!

I wish I'd started Christmases for our kids as a much simpler holiday, and I wish I'd known a rhyme I've heard that goes something like this:

Something you want,

Something you need,

Something to play with,

Something to read!

PLUS...

Santa brings the biggest gift!

Stockings are a fun-filled bonus!

Had I known about an intentionally simple Christmas, the happiest season of all would have been so much more stress-free and the Christmas Club check would have stretched much farther. The other preparations for Christmas would have been made into the celebrations, the focus less on the presents or gifts under the tree.

My kids would not have built up overly high expectations of what Christmas would be like. They would have had the above rhyme on their Christmas wish list, and fill in the blank for each. They would have birthdays for us to fulfill other wishes.

In times like these, I can't imagine having little kids to buy for several times a year and having overblown Christmases and birthdays. I think we will be going back to a simpler time, even if it's involuntary. One day, we'll all realize it's better anyway!