Jan 1st....time to begin

A few years ago, I went through a program called JustFaith. Throughout the program, I learned about social justice both locally and globally. The readings, videos and conversations really changed my outlook on just about everything that my life consisted of. I kept wondering why I had been so blessed, just because I happened to be born in an affluent nation. Why did I have so much, when so many others had so little? Many times since then, I have had the urge to sell everything and try to live a more simplistic life.

Fast forward 4 years. Bob and I are empty-nesters with all sorts of possiblities awaiting us. So, before selling everything, we thought it would be an interesting challenge to try not buy anything for a year. Funny thing is, the second day into it, we faced our first dilema:

Tony and Catherine told us Christmas day that they were going to get married (yippee!!)...in less then 2 weeks (yes, 10 days from Christmas). Tony asked Ben to be his best man, but Ben had no suit to wear. What to do? Well... we bought him a new suit. We started our compact Jan 1st and bought Ben a suit Jan 2nd. However, I would like to state for the record that I did not buy anything new for myself to wear for the wedding.

I have come to realize that stress in life is directly related to the amount of stuff you have - in one way or another. So, if all goes well, I should have a pretty stress-free year!

We'll see if it is easier to try "keep up with the Jones'" or try stay behind the Jones'.

-Lori