1/13/2011

Tiny Houses

Recently I came across the Tiny House Blog. It showcases what else but tiny houses. And by tiny we're talking small. Maybe 200 square feet. Maybe.

I enjoy just looking at the pictures of the intentionally small spaces people have created to live in. There's a lot of creativity. And, of course, a lot of simplicity. It's desirable to me. It's also undesirable.

Granted, it's not practical to live in a space that small when kids are in the house. But there could be a day a decade and a half from now when we could. Moving into a space that small means I'd have to get rid of things. A lot of things. All of my books wouldn't be practical for one--and I like my books. I like to read them and re-read them (that's why I own them rather than let the library house them). I like having games around to play. I like my music collection. And, admittedly, my Star Wars collection.

And we're thoroughly enjoying living in a house rather than an apartment. Still, there is something desirable about the simplicity that comes with living small. Yet, living small doesn't provide opportunities for hospitality very well. There's not really space for guests or having groups of people over. And I'd miss that. So, until I surprisingly inherit that unknown piece of land in the woods on a lake on which I can build a tiny house, I can practice simplicity where I live.

And I admit that's a struggle sometimes. I make things more complicated than they need to be. But I don't have to do it on my own. And of course simplicity, like many things, is a life-long learning process. It'll come. If I let it.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

You can test out the tiny house thing by using a prayer/retreat cabin at The Wilderness Fellowship: http://www.wildernessfellowship.com/prayer.html

Rev. Dave said...

Thanks, Amy for the info. I'll look into those. We had a prayer cabin at a camp in Iowa that we used to use when we were in ministry there. There's also a guest house at Covenant Pines that we've used. But it's good to know more of what's out there. The hard part is getting away without the family right now.