Simplify My Life

Yesterday on My Charm Bracelet Blog, I wrote a post about my first time donating some of my stuff(click here to read). I wrote about loving the idea of getting rid of the excess stuff in my life, stuff I don't use and/or don't need. later on last night, I was reading  Joshua Harris's I Kissed Dating Goodbye and in it he quotes Hebrews 12:1, which says "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us"(Hebrews 12:1).the part about "throwing off everything that hinders us" and "running with perseverance the race marked out for us"really reminded me of what I had written in my Charm Bracelet blog hours earlier. that image, of running a race, really struck me. I am not a runner by any means, but when you go running, you try to carry as much stuff as possible. Brent goes running all the time, and every once in a while I would see him running on the ACU track, and when he ran, he was not carrying a backpack, a set of books, his laptop, etc. he usually only had his Ipod and maybe a water bottle. so I assume that I am correct and running a race, or running in general, means carrying as little stuff as possible. granted, I am not sure if a relationship with God can be thought of as a race, but I want to keep moving towards having a good and deep and honest relationship with God, and in that sense, it is a race you know? not a competition type race, but a race in the sense of moving towards something. and it hit me after reading that reference to Hebrews 12:1 and having it sound a lot like what I had written in my Charm Bracelet post, that the more stuff I carry, the slower I am moving. still moving, but not as...not as fast as I could be if I had less stuff. we spent so much of our energy and time thinking about school, about eating healthy, about keeping your car in good shape, about staying in good shape, about how we look, about whether we are going to ever get married or not, whether guys/girls like us in a romantic way or not, about jobs, about grad school, etc. even missions trips, we are worrying about the actual job we are going to be doing and the raising money for it and preparing to leave, etc and then so much of our time worrying about our material possessions: car, Itouch, Iphone, Ipad, TV, DVDs, cell phones,etc. so much time and energy that we could(and maybe should)be spending on worrying about and working on our relationship with God and spending time with Him and trying to do what He wants us to do,etc. It really confirms in my mind that I really do want to simplify my life, and starting with material possessions is a good way. I am going to donate everything that I don't need, that I don't use, will never use, have never used, or have no interest in using again. the less stuff I have on me, the more room in my mind and in my heart and in my life and in my energy that can be spend worrying and working on my relationship with God. if you are going to go running, you carry as little as possible with you. and going towards a relationship with God is the most important race that we will ever run and are running(even me, who doesn't run at all!).
I am not saying that I will be good at this. it is kinda counter-cultural, but if giving away a few books(a lot of books actually lol) made me feel this good, and having that verse quoted in a book I am reading the same day I wrote a post on simplifying, has to mean something, not saying what. like I said, not saying I will be good at this or even that I'll succeed, but I am going to really really do this. I like the idea of not having to worry about having so many possessions and using everything that I have. having clothes that I wear and a limited wardrobe, having books that I read over and over again and don't sit on my shelf unused, having my apartment be one where I use all the rooms in it, etc. and like I said, the less stuff, the faster I can run this race: a relationship with God.

*I welcome any and all advice, suggestions, and comments on this*