So, we moved to Germany in May. I prayed for a simpler life, a life back to basics.

And we’re mostly happy with the results. We’re focusing on what is important.

We’re simplifying and purging our hearts and home.

What I don’t miss about America:

Malls.

I don’t miss any of the shopping. I am so glad I am not inundated with all the commercialism, except on social media. We have enough. We are learning to be content. We order online if we want anything that we can’t find in stores here.

Competition.

We don’t have anyone to impress. We don’t do Elf on the Shelf. We don’t host family or even friends (since we haven’t made any yet and we live in the boonies). We can create holidays and daily traditions that mean something to our family. We can focus on Christ and family and deal with issues that we have buried too long.

Rushing.

We don’t have to go anywhere, be anywhere. We have no responsibilities or events. It’s refreshing. Previous years we had loads of holiday church events, recitals, appointments. The kids actually miss it just a tiny bit, but I am a little relieved at the slower pace.

What I do sorta miss:

Lights.

Electricity is very expensive here. We used to like to drive around and look at decorations during the holidays. There’s not much of that here. The Christmas markets are really tourist targets and the weather isn’t very conducive to our walking around at night to look at Etsy vomit or Made-in-China garbage.

Mail.

It takes Amazon Prime a couple weeks for shipments to arrive to our APO. Our essential oils orders take about three weeks. Personally shipped items are arbitrary: an envelope could take a week and a box several weeks to arrive. And the base post office has weird hours for when I can retrieve parcels. Several items will probably not arrive on time due to lack of planning on my part.

Potatoes.

The taters here just aren’t the same. They’re sweet or something and not the same as Idaho potatoes. They’re great chopped and fried or roasted, but not so great baked and mashed. I never thought something like this would be missed so much.

I do enjoy seeing many festivities on social media of friends and family. It helps me to feel close to you, whether we’ve met IRL or not.

Resources:

• Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas
• Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ by Fleming Rutledge
• Low: An Honest Advent Devotional by John Pavlovitz
• Honest Advent: Awakening to the Wonder of God-with-Us Then, Here, and Now by Scott Erickson
• Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year: A little book of festive joy by Beth Kempton
• Have Yourself a Minimalist Christmas: Slow Down, Save Money & Enjoy a More Intentional Holiday by Meg Nordmann
• Hundred Dollar Holiday: The Case For A More Joyful Christmas by Bill McKibben
• Unplug the Christmas Machine: A Complete Guide to Putting Love and Joy Back into the Season by Jo Robinson and Jean C Staeheli

Some other posts you might like:

• Blue Christmas
• Relationships Over Stuff
• Hard Candy Christmas
• How We Had the Best Christmas Ever
• How to Have a Debt-Free Christmas