Simple February

It's odd that I should sit here and write about simplicity on a day like today.  So many things have gone wrong today...Very wrong.  But that's not what this post it about, it's about my struggle for simplicity.

I am following Small Steps for Catholic Moms, and this month's virtue is simplicity.  I am reminded through short daily meditations to take small steps toward holiness, toward filling my heart with more love for Him.  For me, it starts off with gratitude, thankfulness for the things I have in my life.  Not just the obvious things- family, a house, food- but the things that I might otherwise see as a burden.  A messy kitchen.  A toy-filled playroom.  Icky bathrooms and diapers that need to be washed.

I take a step back and look at my life in terms of my vocation as a wife and mother.  Are these things holding me back?  Do they take up space in my mind, pushing out God?  Too often for me, the answer is yes.

So I want to simplify.  Simplify my thoughts, my life, my words, my actions.  I want to point everything I do toward Christ.  That means clicking off the  "multi-tasking" button in my brain, and doing everything I do intentionally.  My dishes, to be done in prayer with a smile in my heart.  My family, to be served meals prepared with love and not in bitter haste.  Even abstaining from vices, offered up and moved along.

As I move through February practicing simplicity, I will remember that everything I do in my day should move me closer to God, not move me away from Him.  Join me?