One month down, eleven to go.

Well it's Janaury 31st, and Jonathan and I have made it through one month without bringing any new stuff into our home. I'm surprised both by how easy it has been to not buy new things, and by how much I have learned about myself already in the process. Though it hasn't been too hard to hold back, there has still been lots of unexpected awareness handed to us during the Stand-off.

All things considered though, the universe has been kind of easy on us this month. For example this weekend we had two empty days with nothing planned when we normally could have taken on any number of projects or shopping endeavors with our time off. But instead of even being tempted to do so, we were snowed in (in North Carolina!). I'm not sure if we could get our car out of the driveway if we tried. Instead we spent three glorious days (because even church was canceled)reading books, sorting through old papers that have long needed attention, watching movies, and playing trivial pursuit. It has been wonderful.

The other thing to consider is that November and December were very busy months for us when we did a lot of traveling, shopping, spending and home improvement. In many ways it has been easy for us to resist all of those things in January because we are still exhausted and trying to recover. I expect that in another month or two, when the sun comes out and the credit card balance returns to normal, we'll have renewed energy for these activities. I will be curious to see what happens then. Will we tire of playing Trivial Pursuit? Perhaps.

For today, I'm still pretty excited about the Stand-off, and Jonathan and I are enjoying the journey. But on a serious note, I'm extremely grateful that we are in a place in our lives where we can take on a challenge just for the fun of it. In the midst of our cozy snow day yesterday we learned that two students at our Episcopal School lost their dad last week when he was killed in Afghanistan. All day yesterday and now today, when I've been happily hunkered down in my sweatpants, waves of sadness have washed over me while I think of this family and the tragedy they have just experienced. I am always humbled when I hear this kind of news and can place my own problems in their true perspective. It suddenly makes a Stuff Stand-off seem futile and silly. But we can't stop living our lives in the midst of death. We can certainly, however, stop and offer up our gratitude for what we have. So I'll sign off on January with many prayers for a heartbroken family, with renewed perspective about what really matters, and with deep gratitude for my life just as it is right now. I am extremely blessed.