You probably noticed right off that I’ve changed the name of this weekly feature. I did this for three reasons.

• One, I’m now using the term Simple Living more than Cozy Living in order to more readily connect with new readers.
• Two, these posts have evolved into sharing what is going on in my home related to simple living rather than only listing my homemaking goals for the week. If someone sees the previous series title, she might not realize that these are posts where I share quite a bit about what is going on in my home.
• Three, I want to encourage others to share what they are doing in their home without the burden of setting “goals” which might sound intimidating.

So I’m going to use these going forward to share things that I’ve done in my home that don’t merit an entire post, but are interesting enough that others might find them helpful. I’ll also share things I’m planning to work on in the coming days.

I hope you will share as well what you are doing in your home and what you are planning to do.

Cutting Caroline’s Hair with YouTube Video

I’ve been cutting David’s hair each month for over twenty years. But I’ve never cut Caroline’s hair. She hasn’t had a haircut since March 3 and it was getting quite long. Her hair is thick and heavy so she really wanted to try something short. If you remember, she grew out her hair and donated it a few years ago. The after pictures in that post show the shortest her hair has been since she was a toddler and it was still naturally short.

Caroline had asked me if I could cut her hair a number of times over the past month since she doesn’t want to go to a salon (due to mask requirements in our state). I told her I probably could if she could show me what she wanted and we could find a video. So this came up a number of times over recent weeks as she decided if she really wanted me to do this. She found the video below for a short bob and I felt this was very doable since it is one of those blunt cut, messy bob styles.

So we did it. And it looks cute! (Sorry, no pictures by Caroline’s choice.)

After about 18 hours, Caroline got over the shock of having such short hair and the realization that short hair means less options. It looks cute on her. I don’t know if she’ll keep it short or not. But in any case, we discovered that I can cut her hair.

Replacing a Lamp Switch with a YouTube Video

I have two lamps on my desk to maintain adequate light and not hurt my eyes from computer brightness. The on-off switch on one of them was getting sensitive to the point I had to do something about it. Neither David or I had ever replaced a lamp switch, but YouTube to the rescue again!

We purchased a replacement part at our local hardware store for just a few dollars and David did the work. Now the lamp that was a gift from my parents over twenty years ago continues to shine on and make me happy!

Living Simply with The Common Rule

Over the weekend, I felt compelled to start on The Common Rule – Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction. I received a review copy when it came out, but had not jumped into it.

I’m only 30 pages in, but I think it is a worthwhile read. His life choices that drove him to make radical changes and develop what he calls The Common Rule are very different from my own. However, I have my own set of distractions that come from balancing home, homeschooling, and home business in my own world. I don’t know if I’ll adopt all of his rules, but I think there is value in reading the book and gleaning from it what will help me in my own pursuit of living a purposeful life before Christ.

Simple Faith – Jesus is Family

I finished Jesus is Family: His Life Together over the weekend. I confess I almost didn’t read it as a few statements early on in the book struck me as really odd. However, I am familiar with Jon Zens’ work and trusted that I should plow forward. I was glad I did as the bulk of the book is very interesting and offers much to ponder.

This is really a book for the moment we are in. Churches are closed and Christians who desire to be faithful to the Scriptures and the historic Christian faith find themselves in bewildering circumstances with churches and church leaders embracing woke heresy. I hope to do a video about this very thing because I think it is so important. (Update: Video now available at Negative World – High Profile Christians Bend the Knee & Embrace the False Woke Gospel {Sallie Video}).

In the meantime, I recommend this book if you realize that the vast majority of churches and “churches” in the USA have lost their way and you aren’t sure what to do or think. This is a look at what Jesus left us with when He was here and how it has gone so wrong, especially since the second century. I actually think what Zens lays out in the book is the way things will be moving forward for much of the faithful remnant in the years ahead.

Your Simple Life This Week?

What is going on in your world? What have you been doing, learning, and planning? I hope you’ll share in the comments. If you have a website where you write about these things, feel free to link to a specific post that is relevant. We need a community of people who encourage each other during these challenging times.

Artwork: “The Letter” by Edmund Blair Leighton