Simple Life

It's a recurring theme in my heart: simplicity.

It wasn't always a recurring theme. In fact, it wasn't always even an idea flickering at the edge of my mind. But God has been bringing it back to me time and again lately. Simplicity.

Last night I stood over the laundry basket, which was perched on the end of our bed. Monday is laundry day - always, without fail - so it finds me at some point throughout the day folding shirts and pairing socks at the end of the bed. My mind usually wanders as I transfer clothes from the basket to the closet.

The lantern caught my eye partway through the folding, and my mind wandered back to our wedding day when I carried the lantern across the sands of the Florida beach. 

I never could decide on flowers for our wedding. Though I love them dearly, I'm not well-versed in them. I never know what's in season, outside of roses in the summer. I didn't know any florists in Florida. I didn't want to expand the budget enough to allow for fresh flowers even if I did find a florist. My own flower arranging skills are abysmal at best. I didn't even want to mess with trying a silk arrangement, especially in a season so overwhelmed with busyness and decision-making - a season not known for simplicity. 

That's how I came to carry a lantern, and my bridesmaids did the same. 

They were simple little lanterns, filled with battery-operated candles and adorned on the outside with random sprigs and sprays - and a starfish.

As I paired socks last night, I thought about that beautiful day. The beautifully simple day. I've told dozens of brides that have come behind me how grateful I am the day ended up being so much smaller in hoopla than I ever imagined my wedding day would be. I thought I wanted a huge, elaborate wedding, but I didn't. I just wanted simple. Something I could enjoy without being overrun by nerves and consumed by expectations. I didn't even know that to be true about myself until the day had passed and I realized how deeply and completely I had been able to treasure every second. What a gift God had given me in knowing me better than I knew myself and knowing exactly the kind of wedding I'd adore. 

He gave me a warm day, a stunning sunset, a group of people who sacrificed deeply to attend in person and a host more back home who prayed for us across the miles. He gave me laughter for the moments that didn't turn out perfectly (like when the music equipment failed) and photos that did turn out perfectly for me to treasure all these years later. Above all, he gave me a husband who surprised me with a song, beautifully written vows, and his love that I also continue to treasure all these years later. 

All those gifts - wrapped up in simple. And in the mix, I loved my simple, little lantern that swayed from a shepherd's hook throughout the ceremony. I love it that it still sits on our headboard and reminds me of the joy of that beautifully, perfect, simple day.

I crave that same simplicity now. This world isn't simple, but life can be. God is drawing me toward it more and more, in every facet. The big and the grand doesn't lure me like it did. The small, simple, lantern-lit moments of life beckon instead. 

Simplicity. Smallness. Sacred.

This is what I pray to fill my days with.