Looking For the Prosperity of Living Sma...

1. We had to file for bankruptcy & our home was sold at public auction on July 3rd.

2. I am experiencing medical problems & can't work for the foreseeable future.  I have a condition called neuropathy, which is a kind of slow nerve death in the extremities... very painful.

3. We have three kids that we have to support & have space for part time.

There's no direct cure for my condition & we're told that we probably won't ever learn the cause.  Without knowing the cause & eliminating it, there is no chance of treating it.  That being the case, the likely prognosis is continued pain, burning sensations, numbness, & spontaneous loss of muscle control in her hands & feet.  I drop things pretty regularly & my fine motor skills are reduced to the point where I can't continue my former career as a cosmetologist.  The leg pain makes it difficult for me to stand for any length of time.

Without my income, we couldn't make ends meet on my husband's salary as a teacher.  Financial obligations & medical bills leave us with too little to pay rent practically anywhere.  We don't have any family living nearby & we can't leave the state without also leaving my husband's children from a previous marriage & his retirement pension.

We're in a real trap here, but we think we've arrived at a flexible, creative solution that actually uses this bad turn to propel us toward a dream of ours.  While we find some other living situation on a temporary basis, we want to live off of the grid someday, very small, well within our means, & environmentally responsible.

All of this has lead us to question how much space we actually NEED.  Think about it.  If you were to pare away the space in your house that is either not used, underused, or filled with things that are underused, my guess is that you'd wind up with a much smaller space.  In our case, we're being pretty forcefully pushed in this direction (we figure that God is nudging us), but we're hardly the first to think of this.  Check out these sites:

For us, this is really a redefinition of what prosperity really means.  Here's a list of reasons to go tiny:

• Less mortgage or utility payments.
• Less maintenance.
• Less furniture/decorations/housewares to purchase.
• Less cleaning time.
• Less environmental impact.
• Less opportunity to accumulate things you don't really need.
• Less financial risk.
• Less quantity, but MORE quality.
• More freedom.
• More flexibility.
• More money available to do the things you care about.
• More ability to save & plan for retirement.
• More financial security.
• More peace of mind.
• More clarity about what is "enough".
• More alignment between lifestyle & values.

Please consider helping us with this.  Every little bit helps.  Even a dollar or posting this link to your own favorite social media websites.  Thanks & bless you.