The Basics.

 

One suitcase and one backpack (overflowing and overweight...but still...) is all I carried into this country. One bed, one desk, a few small drawers, and a shared bathroom with 9 other residents is now my home away from home. 

Stuff. I have so much of it. In the states, my room is littered with it. Posters, decorations, lamps, clocks, pillows, clothes. Stuff. And we've all been lied to that this stuff fills the voids. And that if we fill our lives with stuff we'll have peace and satisfaction. And that it's not a savior that we need...but more stuff. Over the past year, I've been feeling burdened by technology and everything that distracts me from God and people and nature and being present. I've wondered what all this stuff is doing to my soul. My free spirit. What's it covering up and filling in? 

So I've enjoyed sleeping under my borrowed blanket and while sharing a bathroom with 9 people is nearly dreadful, I don't have to clean it. We have a housekeeper...and THAT is something to be thankful for. My prayer is that this shedding of excess will strengthen my reliance on the Lord and increase my gratitude for all of his provision.