The work team

What impressed me most about a recent 2-day meeting with my work was the leadership team.

We'd come to Vegas to meet together at one of the facilities owned by the company for which I work.  The meeting was with all the administrators, directors of nursing (DON), and directors of rehabilitative therapy (DOR).  The company owns 8 buildings.  In addition to the 24 leaders there were the resources team consisting of 1 PT, 1 OT, 2 RNs, & 2 LVNs.  There was also my boss who is the clinical director of the company and is an RN.

The first day was a very jam packed teaching day.  By the end of the day my brain felt fried.  Day 2 started with more conversational learning and then progressed into awards.  It had been set up so that every facility was awarded for something outstanding about that facility and leadership team.  There was lots of sharing of stories and laughter.

Things have been over the top difficult at work recently.  We're entrenched in a lawsuit that has turned into a class action situation with 7 participants currently.  It breaks my heart.  There have been so many challenges and some days I'm so exhausted at the end of the day that I wonder how I'm gonna make the 40-minute drive home.

But sitting there, watching my boss and the resource team for those 2 days, stirred something on the inside of me.  Several of them, my boss included, have a genuine love for God and people.  That love permeates everything that they do. I relate to these people better than any group I've ever been a part of.  What my boss is trying to build here is something I want to be a part of.

Studying the Word

I've been really enjoying studying in the book of Ephesians.  Just God and me.  Taking my time and going as slowly as I want.  Examining the Bible, praying, and seeing what others think on various Scriptures, passages, and concepts.

Too much stuff

I'm learning about Sabbath right now.

Officially I'm doing this through a Bible study I'm helping to facilitate at church.  We're using Priscilla Shirer's book Breathe.  Unofficially it's me and God. Me learning how to listen and change.

This concept of margin has long been one that attracts me. 

I've always believed in having margin in my finances.  John and I are blessed to be together and have the same attitude that  nothing we want to own or buy is worth having debt.  We both always want to have some extra money set aside so that there is margin.  Then we have freedom.  The kind of work that I do is very difficult and people in my position often get let go.  Having that financial margin, savings + lack of debt, helps me not worry about if I do lose my job.  I know that God will take care of me but I also believe that He wants me to be wise.

I'm attracted to empty spaces and lack of clutter.  John has saved, inherited and made some wise investments over the years.  He's substantially helped 4 of his 5 living children buy  homes. Recently he purchased a small condo that is 4 miles away from the beach for us.  I adored it from the moment we walked in.  Part of my adoration of this condo was it's minimalism.  All the spaces are economical and small. When I first spent the night there we had barely any furniture.

But our house is a different matter.  I feel like it's too much.  We have too many things here.  This line by Shirer in her book caught my attention:

"Our tendency toward too-full lives often expresses itself most tangibly in our over-crowded closets, unmanageable table surfaces, and cluttered desks as we cram them full of far more than we need."

I want to stream line and de-clutter my life.  But I don't know where to start, or how to start.

Father, I know that You've been growing this desire in me for simplicity over the past few years.  Please teach me how to implement it in my life.  Show me exactly how to begin the process of simplifying my life.  Thank You.