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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Limits Are God’s Idea


Like most book lovers, I’ve read many books that had a positive impact on my life. But if I had to narrow down the list and select the books that profoundly changed my thinking and the way I have lived my life, then the list quickly becomes much shorter.

There are two books by Richard A. Swenson, M.D. that would definitely be on my list – Margin and The Overload Syndrome. I have mentioned both of them before in other posts and they are also in the list I made of My Favorite Simple Living Books.

The subtitle of Margin is Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives. It was followed by The Overload Syndrome which carries the subtitle of Learning to Live Within Your Limits. Both are practical, encouraging books that highlight the reality of who we are and how God created us.

Limits Are God’s Idea

I am not overstating it when I say that The Overload Syndrome changed my thinking about limitations and what it means to do enough. I am so thankful the Lord led me to it. It truly changed my life in a freeing way and I can’t say that about too many books.

The idea of the reality and importance of how we think about limits are shown in a few quotes from The Overload Syndrome.

Limits were God’s intention from the beginning. He decided early on that limits were not only good but necessary. It was His way of preempting any ambiguity about who is God and who is not. He is the Creator – the One without limits. We are the created – the ones with limits.

For some, to say that we have limits seems to limit God. But saying that we have limits in no way suggests that God has limits. And to say that all the spiritual work in the kingdom must be done with human effort misses the point of God’s power altogether. It is very freeing to realize that God has the resources to get the job done, and that rest is still a part of His will for us. Conversely, it is lack of faith – coupled with an inadequate view of God – to think that we have to work twenty-hour days to get everything done. Far from dishonoring God by acknowledging human limits, it dishonors Him to deny limits. It insults His creation wisdom.

God does not have to depend on human exhaustion to get His work done. God is not so desperate for resources to accomplish His purposes that we have to abandon the raising of our children in order to accommodate Him. God is not so despairing of where to turn next that He has to ask us to go without sleep five nights in a row. Chronic overloading is not a spiritual prerequisite for authentic Christianity. Quite the contrary, overloading is often what we do when we forget who God is.

I hope you find these thoughts both encouraging and freeing.

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The Freedom Of Learning To Say “No”


I believe we are each created by God with gifts, responsibilities, and circles of influence. We can only be effective in each area of our life when we carefully consider what is truly important and make decisions accordingly. Sometimes those decisions necessitate that we clearly say “no.”

Do you already know and exercise the freedom of saying “no?” Or do you struggle with saying “no” to the point that you have surrendered your freedom and are caught in a vicious cycle of activities, commitments, and people from which you dearly wish you could escape?

The Freedom of Learning to Say “No”

I wrote The Freedom of Learning to Say “No” in order to help women discern their priorities and be free. I want you to be confident when you make choices so you move forward doing the things that are most important in your life. The things you are gifted to do and that the world needs whether it is the world in your kitchen, your neighborhood, your church, or your town.

Spurgeon Quote

Learning How to Say “No”

We briefly examine these topics and others as you work toward the practical application of the principles.

  • Why Is It So Difficult to Say “No?”
  • Learning to Say “No” with Confidence
  • Establishing Your True Priorities
  • When Others are Disappointed and Angry

Practical Worksheets and Journal Pages

An important part of this ebook is the section of practical worksheets and journal pages designed to help you think through priorities in your life. There are four worksheets and six journal/reflection pages for you to use as you seek out how to prioritize your life by learning to say “no.”

The Freedom of Learning to Say No Worksheets

The Freedom of Learning to Say “No” is fairly brief, but powerful if put into practice. I truly believe that having a clear sense of our priorities can simply our life in amazing ways. This ebook helps you cut through to the heart of the matter and make important choices.

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The Power of a Simplified Homeschool Life


Is it ironic that I’m writing about the power of a simplified homeschool life a day late? Kind of. But there’s still a story to be told and a lesson to be learned.

A Simplified Homeschool Life

When I started a series on homeschool encouragement, I wanted to have all ten days finished before it went live. I didn’t. I was a few days ahead at the start, but still doing some writing.

Last evening, I sat down to finish up numerous things but I could not access my site, write anything in my dashboard, nothing. My website hosting would not let me do anything because they were throttling my site. In other words, I had used too much of the hosting resources and they were punishing me because of it – despite the fact that we are paying for “unlimited” resources. It was frustrating and also the last straw. Time to make a major switch with our hosting.

However, it was not the end of the world. We still all went to bed on time. We all got fed. Our evening routine mostly stayed the same despite our frustrations and figurative head banging on our desks.

In other words, life went on.

That is the power of a simplified life.

If our life had been packed to the max, something like this would have completely derailed our family life. But because we leave a lot of margin in our lives for the expected unexpected events, they are an inconvenience, but not devastating. Because we keep margin in our simplified life, we could drop pretty much everything else this morning and spend it researching hosting and talking with reps on the phone.

The same principle applies to homeschooling.

Simplify For Homeschool Freedom

When you simplify, you give yourself freedom.

When you put margin in your schedule, you can deal with the crises that will come without them overwhelming your life.

The unexpected becomes an inconvenience, but doesn’t derail your life.

Remember the real phases of the homeschool year? Things like the flu, bad weather, and so on? They are going to come. Plan on the unexpected. Give yourself enough margin to make adjustments and keep rolling. Be willing to say no to homeschool pressures from others.

If your homeschool plans for the coming year are like a tightly choreographed death march (as my friend, Peggy, once described her holiday season) then you are setting yourself and your family up for much grief.

Instead, discover the relief of a simplified homeschool life.

Now, I’m off to simplify my life even more by finding better web hosting.

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Saying “No” To Church Pressures


Belonging to the body of Christ can be one of the most wonderful aspects of our lives. And belonging to a church can truly be one of the most difficult or even worst parts of our experience on earth.

In this age of interconnectedness, our belonging to the body of Christ isn’t just limited to our local congregation. We can also be impacted by online relationships with other Christians around the world. So what do we do with pressures that come from being a part of the church? How do we say “no” to church pressures?

You are probably expecting some long explanation of all the things that can go wrong in a church setting and examples of these church pressures. I’m not going to do that. We all have experienced enough of that already and there is no reason to rehash all the negative. (If you truly have no idea what I’m talking about, count yourself extremely blessed.)

When it comes down to it, saying “no” to church pressures means basically one thing.

Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith.

  • It means not listening to people who try to steal your freedom in Christ.
  • It means not listening to those who try to draw you into their rigid rules and legalistic schemes.
  • It means not listening to anyone who teaches Jesus plus something else no matter how great that something else might seem.
  • It means, at times, stepping back and separating your relationship with Jesus from the local body or church, even if this means leaving the church without somewhere else to go. Yes, sometimes it is necessary to leave a church in order to save your relationship with Christ.

While the body of Christ is found in the local church, not every local church or church member is a part of the body of Christ.

Not every pastor is a part of the body of Christ. Let that sink in a moment.

There are many unregenerate people out there sitting in the pews and even standing in the pulpit who have no idea what it means to truly belong to Christ. There are many people who present a form of godliness, but there is no life and no Jesus in it.

I suspect you can trace almost every church pressure we experience in life back to a lack of focus Jesus and what He accomplished for us on the cross and in his resurrection. It is Jesus plus something else. Or in some cases there’s no Jesus in it at all.

Fellow believers who truly love you and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit will not feel compelled to control you and your spiritual life. Anyone who is trying to control you, manipulate you, or shame you into anything church-related should be avoided like the plague.

In fact, even more than the plague because the plague only destroys the body.

Those people will seek to destroy your soul.

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