The Dark Lie of "Happiness" (Part 2)

In part one of this post, I talked about how the pursuit of stuff doesn't bring about happiness, rather, it suppresses it. In this post, I'd like to talk about another influence that the cultural mentality of "more, more, more" affects and that is our time. As we pursue more stuff, it inevitably will affect how we spend our time, as we will spend more of it working hard to acquire more stuff.

Remember those sociology studies on happiness? Do you know what always ranks in the top as far what makes a society truly happy? Community and relationships. It is no wonder then that when we devote our time to the pursuit of stuff, rather than the pursuit of people, our happiness is negatively affected. The most affluent societies are also the busiest and the unhappiest. Yet, looking at many of the poorer nations, sociology studies find that when the pursuit of stuff is not an option, the most important thing in those societies becomes community and relationships - because that is all they have! They value relationships and they are happier for it.

I don't think I need to convince anyone reading this that those of us in the western world are far too busy. We have bought into the cultural lies that we have to work more, do more, spend more and be more in order to be happy. Living this way however, leaves only remnants of life available, able or willing to be used to glorify God.

We are too busy with our more, more, more lives to have time to live the gospel. We are going a million miles a minute with strict schedules to keep and don't have time to stop and go the extra mile with someone or to visit people in their pain and distress. When the Church gets caught up in this more, more, more way of life, our witness suffers terribly - but sadly, we're too busy to notice.

We mustn't take a passive approach on the way culture influences this part of our lives. We have to intentionally counteract it.

"If we let culture just happen to us, we'll end up exhausted, addicted and broke, with a house full of junk and no time." - Mary Pipher

But if Christians began living differently in the area of time and finances - according to all those sociology studies (and ::ahem:: the Bible) - not only would we be less stressed and have more time to serve others, we would be happier! What an irresistible witness for Christ that would be! Authentically happy Christians! People would see our happiness and contentment and want to experience it for themselves. What a marvelous open door for the gospel to be shared.

Some of us (me!) might not be real gifted in the area of evangelism. We might have a hard time finding words that can sway people to believing in Christ. If so, then we should let our lives and our level of happiness be a witness for us.

"Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven" - Matthew 5:16

Let us allow the way we spend our time and money be radically different than what the world says is normal. This life-witness could very likely speak louder to the culture around you then a stirring sermon.

"Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." - Ephesians 5:15-16

Q4U-  How have you, or how could you start, living in a way that brings about authentic happiness as a witness to those around you?

Post inspired by the Focus on the Family broadcast, Living with the End in Mind part 2, aired July 13, 2010. Listen to this broadcast here. 

The Dark Lie of "Happiness" (Part 1)

You know what's great about living frugally? I'm getting used to it. And I don't feel deprived what-so-ever. I love the challenge and I love the feeling of contentment and I love knowing that I'm being a better steward of the financial blessings God has given us. I love living with simplicity as a cornerstone. It is awesome. I highly recommend it.

But I'm learning contentment. And as with any lesson, there are times when it clicks and times when it is hard to adhere to the things you are learning. There are times when I feel good about my progress and times when God drops a clear reminder into my lap that I'm still learning.

One such reminder came about as I was listening to a Focus on the Family broadcast last night. The discussion was on living simply - with balance and with margin in you time and finances. It was so incredibly good - listen to the pod cast here if you are interested (titled: Living with the End in Mind Part 1). The point that stood out to me was the fact that study after study has shown that stuff doesn't make people happy. Duh, right? I think we all intuitively know this is true, yet we are in constant pursuit of stuff. We spend our time making money to buy more stuff. We spend more money to protect and maintain our stuff. We worry about our stuff and how we are going to get more stuff. And it never makes us happy. Instead, it makes us over-worked, over-committed, over-stressed and over-exhausted.

"People think they need more and more to be happy, but if you look at the 'happiness studies' - the sociology of happiness around the globe... the western world never finishes at the top in terms of happy nations. In all of these sociological studies, when looking at how happy a nation is... the desire for material acquisition always functions as a happiness suppressant." - Dr. Richard Swenson [1] 

The desire for material acquisition always functions as a happiness suppressant.

My goodness, friends - what are we doing? How have we bought so deeply into the lie that stuff can make us happy? Even secular studies show us again and again how backwards that mentality is and the Bible has been telling us that truth for generations.

I'm not saying that having stuff is wrong - there are plenty of stories in the Bible of people who God blessed with stuff. But if having stuff becomes our pursuit - what most readily defines our lives and the way we spend our time and money - then we have bought into a dark lie that is stealing life from us and robbing us from the purpose, contentment, fulfillment and holiness that God meant for us to have.

"Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content."

- 1 Timothy 6:6-8

[1] Dr. Richard Swenson, Focus on the Family's broadcast Living with a End in Mind Part 1, aired July 12, 2010.

Goal #28: Postcard Memories

Aaaaaand - nine months after the blessed event, I have finally finished the photo album from our honeymoon. Goal #28 - done! All I really had do to was slide the photos in the slots and write the captions (I didn't have the patience to add more to my "photos to scrapbook" pile). Somehow though,  it still took me nine months to get around to completing it it. Oy.

Something we did to make our honeymoon album a little more personal was that we grabbed a postcard to represent each day of our trip and wrote a quick little summary about what we did that day on the back. This was Devin's idea and, I think, and great one. If you have a longer vacation that you want to remember, but don't have time to scrapbook or journal about each day, this is a great way to remember it! It's also a great way to bring back souvenirs because postcards are inexpensive and pack easily.

For our album, I copied the back sides of the postcards and placed both sides next to each other in the album so that they could be read without removing the postcard:

Wee LuV GraTe Food (especially when it's FREE)

We just returned from celebrating Chic-fil-A's 2010 Cow Appreciation Day (the unofficial nationally recognized holiday). We dressed in our homemade cow attire from head to hoof and each enjoyed a free combo meal!

It was fun (and physically rewarding) to be a Chic-fil-A crazy. The manager even rang a cow bell for us to acknowledge our full COWstumes. Devin was a little embarrassed as we were getting out of the car. He was hoping that we were not the only ones in costume - but with a free meal as the offering, their were lots of other crazies out there proving that they weren't too chikin to dress up as Cowz.

Nothin' like getting gussied up as a heifer to go out on a date with your man!

Edit: I shared this post on the Eat Mor Chikin Cowz Facebook page and we were chosen as the "Human of the Week." The Cowz had us as their profile picture all week long! How much fun is that? (We didn't win a prize or anything - just fun bragging rights and national "recognition." And more proof that we are indeed Chic-fil-A crazies.)

Goals #22 & #23 - Clearing the Clutter

Goal #22 - Clean/organize the guestroom closet 
Goal #23 - Clean/organize the bedroom closet

These two goals took waaaaaay too long to complete. I got into a cleaning frenzy around the beginning of April and drastically cleaned and organized every square foot of our apartment (including our closets). It felt so good and I was so proud at how much stuff I excavated. However, the pride-fest ended there because it wasn't until about three months later that I actually got rid of all of the items I removed. Piles and bags of stuff sat in our living room that entire time. Yuck. Needless to say, we didn't invite over much company during that time. To add to our lengthy clean out, it took us an addition three weeks to get the bed out of the office/guestroom and replace it with a storage bench (which my handy hubby found at Goodwill and modernize for us).

But now, I can finally say that the closets, dressers, bookcase, and all the storage bins under the beds have been purged and organized. I can not post "before & after" photos for you, because even after removing bags and bags of stuff - it still appears (to the unknowing eye) almost the same. But to prove that I did get rid of things, here is all the stuff we donated (not including the three garbage bags of junk that got tossed).

Below is the step-by-step transformation of the creepy Goodwill toy box that Devin transformed into a stylish storage bench for our office. Can I just brag on my husband and say how AWESOME it is that he is so handy and artistic? What a dreamy combination!

There were random, wooden cut-outs covering this box on all sides. I mean, have you ever seen a donkey, a clown, a sailor, sailboat and a guy in a sombrero all together on one object? Um. No thank you.

Weird objects removed, sanded and primed.

My sweet husband (shirtless due to 100+ degree temperatures) hand-drawing the design onto the box. It was painstaking (it took him over six hours to draw and paint the design). It definitely warranted a back rub from his very grateful wife.

Finished project - beautiful!

Q4U-  What is the longest it has ever taken you to complete a home improvement project?

Goal #44- Dates with Devin (7 of 20)

Enjoy complimentary concerts at churches and schools. Check your local newspaper for a listing of these and other free events. - Dates on a Dime

If you love an upbeat acoustic guitar matched with an angelic, folksy voice, then you must check out J.J. Heller. She used to play at my old university during our chapels and in our coffee shop and was always a favorite. Being a huge fan of her and her music myself, I was thrilled that she is finally being played on the radio (she is taking off and it makes me so excited! You go girl!). J.J.'s music is so beautiful and the lyrics just pierce the heart. Seriously, I have four of her CDs and there is a least one song on each album that will make me choke up every time I hear it.

Family Life Radio hosted a free J.J. Heller concert last Friday as a part of their "listener appreciation tour." Devin and I (both J.J. fans) were some of the first in line when the doors opened.

J.J. and her husband Dave (who sings back-up and plays the guitar) are so funny on stage. They lovingly quip back and forth and Dave will cut into the middle of a song with some comedic comment such as, "That line that you all just "awww'd" at - yeah, I... I wrote that." (He'll say this with a sheepish, humble smile) They are the perfect duo and sound a-mazing together. I hope you'll check them out!

* There was a love offering taken for J.J. and Dave, which we contributed to, so this date wasn't technically free. But for great live music like that - we got a killer bargain.

Photos © Devin Hanson Photograph 2010

Goal #82 - Designing for Fun

Goal #82: Design something new, for fun, every week for two months.

I spend forty-hours-a-week designing for my day job and I'll be honest, it can be really un-fun a lot of the time. Some days it's hard to remember why I wanted to become a graphic artist in the first place. Creativity is something I have always had a passion for, but amidst the daily grind the excitement was dwindling. I needed to enjoy designing again; to be reminded of how much truly I love being a graphic artist. So, I assigned myself two-months worth of projects to design just for the love of creativity.
 
I drew this digital portrait as a gift for my friends Ryan and Sarah Shoemaker, who just had their first child - the lovely Brinlee Alexandra Shoemaker.

A piece of art (the final piece was printed and mounted on canvas) for my best friend and her husband for their three-year wedding anniversary. 

What our wedding invites would have looked like had I been smart enough to design them myself. I will also be able to use this design for Goal #80: Create samples of invitations, announcements and cards.

This is the third t-shirt design I have done for Valley Christian H.S. It is always a blast to work with  these students as they are very in-touch with the latest design trends.

Devin and I wanted to do a fun photo of the two of us for an upcoming project we are working on. We concepted, photographed and digitally composed this shot together. I love that we can be creative together. I married the right man for sure!

If my life was represented by a Google Doodle...

An illustration of Royal Flush (I wanted to do something different for each, so these would not be in the same deck)

My last self-assigned project (and possibly my favorite) was a book cover for one of my favorite books, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend that you do. Just be prepared for your heart be very involved during this read.