Living with Less and Liking it More

Originally written in January of 2009.

Nearly two years ago now, in 2007, we took a trip to visit my husband's family in Brasil.  As always, leaving the United States of Stuff for a while caused me to reflect on the current state of materialism in this country.
Now just to set the record straight, Brazil is the most developed country in South America, and while not wealthy, my in-laws live a very comfortable life in a new apartment just blocks away from a beautiful beach which boasts the largest beachside garden in the world.  However, their home is not cluttered with the typical american array of various and sundry miscellaneous.

For example, my mother-in-law has a nice 6 burner stove and oven, and a refridgerator in her kitchen. She also has a nice blender.  That is all, as far as appliances go.  No microwave, no toaster, no food processor, no  etc, etc, etc.   Then we come to utensils.  She has forks and spoons and ONE knife for chopping, paring and peeling.  A couple of ladels and a couple of spatulas, and I think that is all.  No ice cream scoop, no vegetable peeler, not even any butter knives or salt and pepper shakers!  Now, she could easily afford any of these inexpensive kitchen items, and they are all readily available for purchase in not-too-far-away stores, but she just doesn't see any reason to have them.  I asked her things like, "Wouldn't you like to have a vegetable peeler?"  Her answer: "No, I like to peel veggies with a knife."  Me: "Wouldn't you like to have a salt shaker?"   Mil: "No, I think it is easier to control the amount when I just pinch a bit out of the tub."   Me: "Well, how about butter knives? Wouldn't you like to have some of those?" Mil: "Why? It works just fine to spread butter with the end of the spoon!"   What a different, and even refreshing, perspective!
Although most Brazilian homes host a washing machine, that is one other item that my dear mother-in-law finds unnecessary.  She believes it is just a "waste of energy".  Funny, I kind of felt that washing our clothes by hand was a waste of energy!   And like most all other Brazilian homes, she has no dryer, no hot-water-heater, no furnace nor air conditioning, no vacuum cleaner, no screens in the windows, no ... you-name-it.   Oh, and I forgot to mention that I think the only disposable items that I saw were napkins and toilet paper.  I don't think I saw one disposable plate, cup, or fork the whole time I was there.  Life is just simpler, and no one misses these things. They just don't think they need them. 
So, while I think I will go ahead and keep my washing machine, and probably my vegetable peeler and ice cream scoop too, for me it was a reality check.  I don't think that the current abundance of America is a permanent reality.  Would we spoiled americans be able to live with less?  Could we survive another major national crisis like we had in the 1930's?   Would we be willing to go to the mission field if it meant life in a country that had no modern conveniences?  Is it really a good thing that we are raising our children to be used to having so much of everything and living such a comfortable existence?  I tend to think not.  Funny, in America these days, if you want to live with less, you really have to struggle to not accumulate!  Where does all this stuff come from??

 So, in summary, our time away made me more thankful for the incredible extreme abundance of everything that even your average, not-so-well-off american can enjoy,  but  it also made me want to get rid of some of my over-abundant clutter!   For me anway, clutter equals stress, as handy as so many of those gadgets can be at times.  And I really don't want to get too comfortable here.  Not that I want to have a "martyr complex", but the comfort zone is not always the most strategic place to seek the Lord from either.  And for my children, I don't want them to have so many toys that they don't have to "imagine" anything.  I don't want them to have such abundance that they can't truly appreciate what they have or be thankful for it.  I don't want them to be so used to living in air conditioning in the summer that they don't feel like going outside to get sweaty and work in the heat.  I want them to know the joys of a simple lifestyle and the pleasures of the simple gifts that God gives.  I want them to learn what it means to do without something they really want, or save their pennies a whole year for some special treasure and thus learn what delayed gratification is all about.   I want them to pray for something which is beyond their means to buy and have the opportunity of seeing God provide it for them in a way they never imagined!  I don't want them to expect to always have what they want, when and how they want it, be it food, clothing, toys, environment or temperature.  I want them to learn "having food and clothing, therewith to be content."  And I want to learn that too!

Here is my mother-in-law in her kitchen:

And me, washing our clothes by hand: