Back when I was very pregnant with Hailey, my nesting skills kicked into overdrive. With Shawn, I knew we were moving into our first house one month after he was born so I did not nest in the apartment. It was too small and we had too much baby gear. So I was making up for my lack of nesting with Shawn.
As part of the desire to nest, I had the urge to purge everything. I was feeling overwhelmed by stuff. I had spent years collecting items for my first home (long before Stephen and I even started dating) but when I finally started opening bins, much of what I had collected, I did not love anymore.
One night while searching Pinterest, I came across a blog titled A Bowl Full of Lemons. I started her 12-week challenge and set to work to purge and sort through all my stuff. By the end of the 12-week challenge, I had sold or donated a large number of items. It felt so freeing and I was ready to bring Hailey home.
A year later I was ready to do another purge and take back the house that was overrun with baby gear. Then again the following year. So on and so on until it was a habit. At the end of each year, I do what I call my reset. I go through each room in the house purging, cleaning, and organizing. There is something to be said for starting each year with a clean slate.
I am ever grateful for A Bowl Full of Lemons. The instruction and encouragement were what I did not know I needed to take back my house from all the stuff.
I preface this next part with I never have considered myself a minimalist. However, I am practical and understand that I am wired in a way that I could become a hoarder, real quick. Through my journey with A Bowl Full of Lemons, I came to understand my need for simplicity.
Around 2018 just as we moved into our 4th home, I discovered YouTube and Dawn, The Minimal Mom. I started watching her videos and even binged past videos. Dawn explains that the more stuff we have, the more “inventory” we have to manage. Managing this along with work, kids, and other responsibilities can become too much. By eliminating the unneeded inventory we free up some bandwidth.
Basically, the Minimal Mom articulated why all those years ago I had panicked about bringing Hailey home. My bandwidth was at its limit.
Through The Minimal Mom, Dawn has shared her journey as a wife and mother of 4. Along the way, she has introduced us to various family members like her twin sister Diana. Not too long ago, Diana started her own channel where she focuses on Bible study and faithful living. I enjoy watching both channels and so I was super excited when they announced they wrote a 12-week devotional book.
Titled “Decluttering By Faith” its tagline is “A 12-Week Devotional to strengthen our faith and loosen your grip on stuff”. It is self-paced which is nice because I can work through it in between classes. But what I love even more is that they have provided resources to use this as a small group study! I would love to gather a group of friends together (or online) to work through this study. In the meantime, I did start and am already loving the weekly layout in addition to the content. I will provide updates as I work through this study.
I do encourage you to check out “Decluttering By Faith” by Dawn Madsen and Diana Kokku. Below are ways you can find both Dawn and Diana.
Dawn Madsen, The Minimal Mom
https://www.youtube.com/@TheMinimalMom
Diana Kokku: Bible Study & Faithfull Living
https://www.youtube.com/@DianaKokku
Simply,
Jess