This summer we have been downsizing partly by choice and partly by circumstance and partly by necessity. When we moved from a 2200 sq ft house to a 1100 sq ft house we had to make necessary changes. We didn't want to rent a storage space so we sold some furniture and condensed our other material goods.
It is actually much easier to clean this square footage than the other. It also seems more cozy and we have always thought cottage living would be quite romantic. But this last week our microwave went out. It is ironic for the microwave we were using is one we had in storage while we were in Pleasanton the last two years and was about two years old from our house in Iowa.
When I told Joan the news I expected a "Oh, not another unexpected expense." But instead she said,"Do we really need to replace it?" As we talked I realized we don't use it a whole lot. To cook corn on the cob, reheat meals, and make popcorn, that is about all.
We can certainly use the stove to reheat, we have pans. We can grill or boil the corn. And popcorn, we don't make that a whole lot anymore and we used to make it in a pan with oil, the old fashioned way.
It looked like we would be moving back to our life BK, "before kids." Then we saw an ad at Target with a microwave for less than $40. We decided to get it. So we are back into the 21st century, but this event made us pause and think again about the essentials. This event helped us make an intentional decision about how many and what kind of appliances we should have.
Sometimes we need to evaluate our life style. Sometimes we need to make a conscious decision about what we own or have. The new micowave is great to have, I used it last night for a quick quesadilla snack. It is smaller and fits our counter better and I hope our stove keeps working because I am not ready to start up the fireplace for making stew just yet, but hopefully we are making good decisions about what we have. I hope it is closer to what we need and we can use our resources and space for more essential items.
When you need to replace something it is good to consider with what will I replace it for our needs change and we know that what is essential can't always be bought. When we downsize things it allows us to upsize our faith, "For were your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6: 21).
