What needs to happen, if I say no to this?

The missing piece of my margin journey

Choosing to say no to good but not great things, and choosing margin is something our family has done repeatedly over the years. And I’m starting to wonder if we got too good at saying no without thinking of the full impact.

You see, my journey seeking margin started when my first born was 4-months old. Kind of a crazy time to try to simplify but it was the sweetest season. I had started selling our prayer journals 2 weeks before she was born (and shipped out the first batch when she was 2 weeks old!) so I was not only learning to become a mom but cultivating a new business, too.

Somehow though, I grabbed hold of the message in Richard Swenson’s book Margin and changed how we lived.

• We were the family with minimal toys in the living room.

• We were the family without a packed schedule.

• We were the family unbothered by how small our closets or cabinets are (because we didn’t fill them anyway).

• We were the family with Saturdays designated for family time and not a million birthday parties.

I distinctly remember cooking food for a new mom when my own 4-month old girl and 5-month old business were keeping me occupied but not frazzled. Life was good!

I say all that to point out that margin has served me so incredibly well as I’ve embraced it. There are good things that happen when you leave white space in your schedules and your home.

But I realized something recently when that 4-month old (who’s now 11) decided to play volleyball.