Tag: growth

Green leaves in the background with white text overlaid and a white frame around

July 2022: ‘Things That Matter’ + Resisting Consumerism

Posted on by Kelvey Vander Hart in L I F E

We’re more than halfway through 2022. Wild, right? Here’s your July 2022 recap: 

Best Book I Read This Month 

Many people think that minimalism is about getting rid of things until you have one lonely chair sitting in your pretty empty home. But what if minimalism was about refining your life to live on purpose? Joshua Becker explores this concept in his books. Because I’ve been reading a lot of Becker’s work, this month is a two-for-one recommendation. Find out more about Becker’s Things That Matter and The More of Less here. 

Best Article I Read This Month

Shameless self-promotion here. July played host to Shark Week! I love sharks and I love writing – read the combination of these loves here. 

Tip + Trick of the Month

July was all about minimalism on the homefront. Have an overabundance of towels and blankets that have seen better days? Don’t throw them away – take them to your local animal shelter! As someone who has volunteered for two different shelters and has a shelter pup of her own, I can testify that there is always a need for more soft things for dogs and other animals to sleep on. 

Quote of the Month

“Often, Christians ask me, ‘How can I love my neighbor without misleading her into thinking I approve of everything she does?’ First, remember that Christians cannot give good answers to bad questions. No one approves of everything that others do. No one. It is a false question. The better question is this: ‘How can my neighbors know that because I live under God’s authority rather than the compulsions of my own selfish desires, their secrets are safe with me?’ The answer is simple: love the sinner and hate your own sin. Or, as Mark says ‘Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another’ (Mark 9:50).”

-Rosaria Butterfield, The Gospel Comes with a House Key

Kelvey’s Thought for the Month

As Americans, we’re conditioned to think that more is better. That is the very heart of consumerism. But what if we start to resist that notion? 

I know I have been harping on minimalism throughout this entire monthly update, but I think regardless of how strongly/loosely you hold to such tenets, there is goodness for everyone to find here. As of late in my own life, it has been a freeing resistance to consumerism. Do you know how good it feels to walk through a store and have my brain be thinking about how happy it is to not bring unnecessary items into my home rather than wanting to buy everything? 

Something to think about. Hit the comments or the reply button if you have your own thoughts on this and, as always, I’ll catch you next month.

Just because you're moving and living doesn't mean you're growing or progressing.

All Motion Is Not Progress

Posted on by Kelvey Vander Hart in L I F E

Smack dab in the middle of a public education policy diagnostic summary, Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) writes in The Vanishing American Adult, “All motion is not progress.” 

Simple. Profound. True. 

Have you noticed that humans tend to act like we’re sharks? While some sharks are certainly able to stop moving and still get oxygen, there are many species that must keep moving in order to pass water through their gills and get oxygen. If they stop moving, they stop breathing. They move just to stay alive. 

We often act like the latter. 

We think that as long as we keep moving, we’re living, even progressing. Whether this is in the personal habits of the everyday citizen or in the halls of Congress, mere action is equated to growth and improvement. But is that accurate?

Motion isn’t necessarily progress. Pulling from a larger perspective, just because Congress passes a bill does not mean things are progressing or improving. The bill could certainly be (and often is) something that is burdensome and regressive, offering more problems than solutions. 

On a personal level, just because we’re going through our days and weeks does not mean we are progressing at all. How many of us get to the end of these time periods, wonder what we actually accomplished, and write it off as okay? I know I am too often at peace with stasis instead of analyzing it for opportunity to actually move forward. 

Movement doesn’t mean that something is actually happening, changing. We need to, I need to, start questioning ourselves on this idea. Where are we going through the motions in our lives, expecting that to propel us forward? Where are our lives static? Where do we need to compel ac? 

Left to our own devices, we would all fall into meaningless motions and become blind to the lack of progress those actions produce. Let’s challenge ourselves to become more intentional in our ways, our motion, and look forward to the growth that produces.

Here's 4 steps for setting goals that ACTUALLY matter.

How To Set Goals That Actually Matter

Posted on by Kelvey Vander Hart in L I F E

I’ve always been a goal setter. Whether it was accomplishing certain feats of fitness, attempting to become a better saver, or even something as simple as a first ____ (car, tattoo, etc.), you could count on me to write it down and look forward to it. Continue reading “How To Set Goals That Actually Matter” →