A Quiet Simple Life | Sallie Borrink

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23

A Quiet Simple Life

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Sallie Borrink

Crazy Busy or the Quiet of Home?


I noticed a number of years ago that if I run into people I haven’t talked to recently and asked them how they were doing I almost always got the same answer: “Oh, I’m so busy!”

Now, however, it isn’t enough to be busy. Now the answer is crazy busy. You have to be crazy busy. Because in this country, don’t you know, you have to take everything to the next level. And that includes being insanely busy.

When Did Crazy Become a Worthwhile Goal?

I’ve made a point of not answering the “how are you doing” question with the answer “busy.” And I’ve made deliberate choices over the past eight or nine years to avoid getting myself into a rat race type lifestyle that would necessitate such an answer. I have no desire to be crazy busy. Being crazy busy is not a badge of honor in my book.

Think about it. Crazy is a goal to aspire to? When did this happen in our culture? And, even more so, when did crazy become a biblical virtue?

Longing for the Quiet of Home

I would not say I have been crazy busy these past six weeks, especially by the standards that most people keep. But I have been too busy.

I have literally been homesick and heartsick to be home for a full day.

Going through this was a good reminder to me of where I have come from and what I have accomplished in my life. No, not the accomplishment of being busy. Instead it is the accomplishment of being happy and content NOT being busy. The ability to be at home and be happy about it.

In fact, to long for home and the quiet puttering around my house.

Yes, there are days when I am ready to be out and about. But for the most part I find a great deal of joy and contentment at home.

Going through an unavoidable season where this was disrupted has simply helped me realize yet again the great value emotionally, spiritually, financially, relationally, and physically of being at home. I can point to examples in each of these areas where I/we have suffered because of the busyness. It has done little to enhance our home life in any way, shape, or form.

So I am happy to let the crazy busy people continue on their way while I quietly go mine. I am drawing a thankful sigh of relief that I am just about through this season and that today, for the first time in a long time, I pulled out a beloved book, sat in a quiet room all alone, and peacefully sipped my coffee.

Home sweet home!

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Frustration


I don’t write negative posts very often, but I’m not going to be a Pollyanna on here either. So here it is.

I’m experiencing a lot of frustration right now with a lot of things. My laptop gives me fits every time I sit down to use it and I’ve wanted to literally throw it more than a few times in recent months. I’ve had it for five and a half years which is ancient in computer years, especially considering the workout it gets each week. Everything is slow and we’ve done everything we can to make it run better. It is just old and therefore gives me all kinds of problems. So instead of blogging and emailing being enjoyable, I usually end up frustrated and with rising blood pressure.

I’m also frustrated by my lack of time and brain power. This continues to be the biggest adjustment for me in motherhood. I’m tired, I don’t feel like I can do even a fraction of what I used to be able to do mentally, and so I write insipid posts on here and continue to feel frustrated that there are some really good topics I want to write about and I just don’t get the time or mental energy to do so. Adding physical therapy to the mix twice a week just makes it worse since it takes what little free time I do have and necessitates me traveling to and from PT as well as doing all of my exercises and stretches at home. I know it is worth it to feel better and I’m already seeing good progress, but when you already feel crunched for time, it is frustrating.

And then there are the things I can’t write about here because they involve other people. But those situations kind of stink right now too and I’m thoroughly sick of dealing with the same things over and over again.

So there is my story. I already know it is pathetic to even complain about these things when so many people are facing so much worse. I know that everything will work out for my good in the end and God is using these situations for my good. It’s like I tell David – everything seems worse when you are tired. But that might help you understand where I’m coming from right now. I love my life, I love my husband, I love my daughter, I love who God has made me to be, but sometimes in spite of all the good I just find myself really battling some serious frustration with my limitations.

In the meantime, hang on and know that I’m trusting God in the midst of it all. 🙂

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More Life With Caroline


I decided it was time for a little Caroline update, especially since I had to post this picture. My friend, Katrina, a Purdue grad, sent this bib to us when Caroline was born. There aren’t too many Big Ten schools I would put on Caroline other than Michigan State, but Purdue falls into the “acceptable” category. Most of the others would fall into the “over my dead body” category. Anyway, wanted to share this picture with Katrina and also Brenda who I believe is a big Boilermaker fan.

So, life with Caroline… Here are some highlights in totally random order…

Last week I became a full-fledged real MOM. I put Cheerios in Caroline’s diaper bag when we left the house. Yes, I have arrived. I am a MOM. My daughter eats Cheerios.

Those of you who co-sleep… You have got to be kidding me. And I don’t say that with any disrespect at all. Three nights in the same room with Caroline at my parents’ house and I am SO READY to get back to my own home, my own room, and Caroline in her crib in her own room. It used to be that we went to my parents to relax, catch up on sleep, etc. Now we go and David and I sleep horribly with Caroline in the room with us. She doesn’t sleep well either in the pack and play. I honestly don’t think it would be any different if she were in bed with us either. I know all you co-sleepers swear by it and love it, but it is totally beyond me how you ever do it. My hats off to you if you can make it work.

Caroline thoroughly enjoys the Emma soundtrack. She has a couple favorite pieces that she always stops and listens to when they come on. In fact, if we don’t turn the stereo on, she tells us to do so. She likes music.

Caroline got two teeth in ten days and we were all glad when they were here. She got the top right middle one and then one just to the left of the top middle. Not sure where the top left middle one is yet. We have finally figured out that when she wakes up in the middle of the night and is WIDE AWAKE and doesn’t show any interest in going back to sleep, it is because her tooth broke through.

Right now Caroline’s favorite toys BY FAR are whatever she can find in the recycling basket. Forget Fisher Price! Just give her empty boxes, catalogs and washed out plastic! I have a cute basket that sits on the floor in the kitchen. We use it to collect recycling which we then take out to the bins in the garage. The child is in HEAVEN going through that basket. I had stopped washing out a lot of plastic and such for recycling after I had her because I had to save time somewhere. Now that I have more time and have discovered what a thrill she gets from a cleaned out plastic I.C. Mocha cup, lid and straw from Panera, I’m washing everything just so she can play with it. We’ve also stopped emptying the basket every night and let it collect for a few days so she’s got a nice assortment of junk to play with.

Well, time for a cup of coffee while the little one naps.

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Modes of Baptism and Church Membership


Yesterday I listened to Rush Limbaugh while out running errands. I’ve listened to him for almost as long as he’s been around nationally, in varying amounts depending on my life situation at the time. (Teaching elementary school didn’t allow for much Rush!) Yesterday I heard something that was just absolutely priceless. I would say it was one of the most profound things I’ve heard on there in all these years.

Carl, who identified himself as an Independent, called in and wanted to know, “Why can’t we just all get along?” Discussion ensued and then Rush asked Carl a question: “As an Independent, what do you stand for?” Kind of a simple question, but it was met with total silence, then fumbling nothing.

So Rush asked him, “What are your core principles?” Again, longer silence and then stumbling to apparently even understand the question.

So Rush assured him it wasn’t a trick question. He just wanted to know, “What do you stand for?” Super long silence.

Poor Carl apparently had no idea what Rush was talking about.

The silence was so LOUD and LONG. He apparently had no idea how to even process the questions, let alone answer them. I suspect that Carl is not alone in his inability to express his most basic core beliefs whether the person is an American or, God help us (literally), a confessing Christian.

Okay, so what does this have to do with baptism?

I’ve been following the discussion between Wayne Grudem and John Piper regarding baptism and church membership. The three relevant posts are:

They are very interesting and friendly. You need not be apprehensive about reading a theology war because this is not it. Instead, two friends discuss some very relevant and thought-provoking spiritual truths.

Some might think this is just dry theology and it doesn’t have anything to do with following Christ in our day to day lives. Well, not for me. I’ve been Baptist pretty much my whole life, but the baptism thing is a tricky one for me. Those of you who have read here for a bit know that we actually switched churches when we found out we were expecting Caroline. We were attending a Christian Reformed church that baptizes infants and when push came to shove we decided to move to a Baptist church, primarily because of the baptism issue. (As an aside, I’ve never been totally comfortable with that choice either.)

But it is also relevant to us in another way, and this was the situation that has made me forever since uncomfortable with being a believer’s baptism by immersion person. We know an older couple who were both baptized as infants. They have spent their entire lives serving Christ in churches that baptize infants. To make a long story short, they started visiting some other churches because they were becoming increasingly concerned about some things happening in their own church (of which they are founding members and have been there for decades). They found a Baptist church they really liked. But in order to become members of that church they would have to be baptized by immersion as their sprinkling/pouring was not considered valid. No dunky, no membership.

I have to admit that as a Baptist I found it next to impossible to defend that position. I mean, I can defend it as a Baptist and give all the reasons why a person should be baptized in the mode of believer’s baptism. But as Sallie who knows these people and knows that they have followed Christ most of their lives, I could not justify telling them that they were not able to fully function as members of a church body of Christ unless they were immersed.

So what does this have to do with Rush and Carl, the Independent? The mode of baptism for me, at this point in my life and as best I understand the Bible, is not a core belief for me. In some Baptist circles that would be almost heresy to admit. Seriously. Some Baptists would sincerely doubt my salvation that I could even entertain such thoughts. I think the mode of baptism used to be a core belief for me, but I cannot imagine telling some of the great Reformed folks I know that they could not join my church unless they were immersed when they are fully convinced in their own mind before God that their baptism is valid.

And so I found this discussion between Gruden and Piper to be interesting.

I hope you will, too.

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