our big news....we are going small

A few weeks ago, I was sitting with my sister, Jenny, watching a Tiny House Hunters marathon.
As a family of six chose to move into a bus I looked at her said,
"That seems terrible to me."
She agreed.
Tiny living looks hard...and tiny.
And so it is with no small amount of irony that I share the news that
Scott and I and our 3 boys are moving in a few months...into a tiny house.
Less than 1,000 square feet.
And it is a nothing short of a miracle how it came about.

Just to give you a little background, the rents in our area have sky rocketed
since we live sandwiched between San Francisco and Silicon Valley.
Normal rent for a small 3 or 4 bedroom home goes for between $4500-$5000 a month.
Pick yourself back up off the floor. I know. It is crazy.
But living here and pastoring here is what Jesus has called us to do in this season...
so He has opened the door for us to be able to stay and do that.
It is a little door to a little cottage with hard wood floors a giant fruit tree filled back yard.
(How does Jesus know that I have always longed for hardwood floors?)
His timing is amazing, happening on the heels of Scott praying for a breakthrough for 40 days.
This house is an answer to our prayers.
Jesus is tricky like that. He always surprises us with how He sorts out our lives.
Living in an area where life is all about getting more...He is inviting us to live with less.

Going small is nothing new to me.
I have lived in small spaces before.
A narrow ship's cabin with drop down beds with my friend, Heidi, my senior year of high school.
3 different not so spacious college dorm rooms.
A bedroom at my cousins' apartment in Amsterdam that was six feet wide.
A tiny church apartment with Scott and Jack where you could sit on the couch in the living room
and open the door of the fridge in the kitchen.
My parent's basement in Washington DC with Scott, Jack and Will.
But this is the first time all five of us are going small...

My friend, Amie, was telling me about the Danish word "hygga" (said hoo-gah).
It is the idea of living cozily in a small space,
with good food and good fellowship and being content.
The Danes are said to be the happiest people on earth.
This thought is re-framing the way I am thinking about our move.

We will be leaving the house the boys have grown up in. That will be hard.
But we will be stepping into the next adventure that Jesus has for us. That will be good.
So you can pray for us. And be thankful with us.
But don't send us any house warming presents...because we won't have room for them.
Unless you want to send chocolate...I will never turn away a bar of chocolate.
And know that we are moving forward with the chant "Go hygga or go home!" on our lips.
We will be living small and dreaming big as we start out the new year.
And that is good.