How Times Have Changed

While Brian was out of town, I used some of my time in the evenings to watch some documentaries that I had heard of but never really had the time to sit down and watch. I would recommend both: Food, Inc. and Foodmatters. Highly educational and highly disturbing.

My aunt Elsa came for a visit yesterday and we spent some time discussing the things I had seen in these documentaries, especially since she and my uncle work hard to maintain their health through healthful eating and vitamins. We began talking about chicken (Food, Inc. showed some disturbing facts about chicken and how it is raised, fed, and bred to give us the amount of meat we see in the packaging).

My aunt went on to say that when she was a girl, she remembered going to the meat market with my grandmother, picking out their chicken, watching the butcher slaughter the chicken and then taking it home. She said that she didn't remember the chicken being as large as the ones on meat shelves today.

That conversation led to one we have had many times before. We began talking about that "simpler life" again. The one we both love and wish still existed. I thought about my life and how I try to keep things simple but it doesn't always seem to be as simple as I imagine it to be.

Women used to have wash/laundry day. They had ironing day. They had cleaning day. But they also spent time visiting with family and friends. They had time to be neighborly. They had time to walk to the grocery.

Then I really thought about it.

Families did not have an endless supply of clothing. They had a few outfits a piece. So while laundry had to be done by hand, it was not impossible to do it in a day because the load was not mountainous. So unlike my 5 loads a week.

Homes were so much smaller than they are now and required less furniture and held fewer knick knacks, so cleaning a home didn't take as long as it does today. So unlike my need to clean a room or two each day to get to the whole house.

As for time, we have the benefits of technology that they did not have: cell phones so no matter where we are we are always connected, computers so we can keep up with our Face book accounts, Pintrest boards, blogs, Twitter accounts, and whatever else we want to see at our finger tips. And let's not forget the television! Where would our society be without it? Hmmmmm.......

And what about the million extras that we involve ourselves and our children in which keep us so busy that even if we wanted to visit we couldn't because we never know if someone will be home or not.

It really got me thinking..... and I still am.... of what needs to change right here, in my home, in my life, in my priorities to make sure I am living not just a simpler lifestyle, but a life that relies on the Lord and focuses on my husband, children, home, and those I love. A lifestyle that reduces stress. A lifestyle that I love.