Conversations with Mrs. L - Just Live a Simple Life

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As we were sitting there face-to-face, Mrs. L leaned forward to answer my question. I tried to brace myself, anticipating a mind-blowing answer. Her expression was permeated with a mix of gravity and approval (I guess from my openness to ask and learn). Mrs. L would never tell you what to do in life, but I had this sense that she was always ready to impart something into you if you had the right key to open her treasure storehouse.

She looked into me and said, "Just live a simple life, Katherine." She paused for a second then continued, "If someone else has something, that doesn't mean you need to have that same thing. If someone just bought something, that doesn't mean you have to buy it too." What? That was not mind-blowing at all, but at the same time, it was!

I nodded. Coming from a ninety year old person, that answer had greatly impacted my being. You know what, these exact words, "Just live a simple life, Katherine," have saved me again and again from coveting, from entangling myself with lustful desires and with them, of course, their further complications. You know, complications such as you get exceedingly irritated when you can't get what you want. Yes, been saved many times from that. I'm not saying that I'm there yet, but I appreciate so much how Mrs. L had sown that seed within me. It was not a mere advice, Mrs. L had imparted the kind of person she was into my being.

Also this seed has continually saved me from the ever-changing trend of lifestyle, the tide of the age.

Comments

  1. To be simple is to be single for the Lord (c.f. 2 Cor. 1:12; 11:3; Eph. 6:5; Matt. 6:22)

    Our two eyes can focus on only one thing at a time. If we endeavor to see two things at once, our vision will be blurred. If we focus our eyes on one thing, our vision will be single and our whole body will be full of light. If we store up our treasure both in heaven and on earth, our spiritual vision will be blurred. For our vision to be single, we must store up our treasure in one place. (Matt. 6:22 note 1)

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  2. Thank you for sharing, Daniel. That was a rich portion of the Word that you pulled out.

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  3. Hmm, that's a very wise answer.

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  4. such a healthy lesson. i also like the first comment. "To be simple is to be single for the Lord."

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  5. I love that 90 years of life-experience and gaining the Lord can change your words from mere advice to the planting of a seed into someone. Me we all live a simple life all the years ahead and become brothers and sisters like Mrs. L.!

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  6. Hi Tamara,

    Thanks for your comments. Yes, definitely I learned so much from just conversing with Mrs. L. For some reasons, I felt like my times with Mrs. L really took me to see a bigger picture of life. How our human life and our spiritual life intertwine, well, even how they are actually just one life.

    The fall semester at UT will start soon and I aspire to not live a double-life, but to live simply as a Christian on campus.

    Thanks for following my blog, Tamara.

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