"are you rasing stuff, or raising children?"

that is what Nancy Campbell from Above Rubies said that struck me most during our Family Camp back in March.

I remember the day that I told my dear Colorado friends that I believed our family was on a journey to simplify our lives during our next duty station, that was about a year ago. I was so tired of not having time to do the things that are really important to me. I found myself telling my children to stop wasting time when they were playing because there was always more work to be done. Science experiments were getting cut out of our school day because they would just add to the mess, and isn't dirty laundry science? So many toys were strung about that the children didn't even care to dig through the chaos. We realized we were sinking in stuff. More and more it was pressed upon my heart that it wasn't right, this isn't the way I wanted to live. Over the last year we have been purging and it has felt really good. But we're not done yet. We are getting down to the nitty-gritty. We are getting out of debt and getting out of this pit of stuff. We don't have to live like America does with bigger, better, more. We don't have to spend any more time reorganizing (again) so the newest, greatest toy can fit. We don't have to say to our children "I'll read to you when I have time" anymore.
No, we are not going to raise our stuff any longer. We are going to spend time on the things that are important. Our relationships- that is what matters. Our treasures are not in earthly things. They are in our marriage, and in our children.
So, what are we going to do about it? You will just have to stop back later ;~)