It sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Especially considering that all of our lives we’ve been conditioned to hear the word dream and following it with big. Dreaming little seems like a cop-out, or perhaps lazy or dumb. Why would anyone dream little?

No, no, Emily, you’ve got it all wrong! This is America! Land of the free, home of the brave, and birthplace of the aptly named American dream: work hard, get rich, die happy.

I get it, that’s the (American) dream. To make enough money that you can turn around and buy what you want, then make more money and buy something newer, fancier, and of course, bigger. Modified, the American dream might be go to college, get a good job that will pay off loans (one that will obviously require long hours!), marry rich and buy a big house to support your small family. Or maybe for some, the American dream has morphed into get rich quick with minimal effort, then surround yourself with so much stuff that you have to build either a bigger house or storage buildings to hold it all. That’s living the (American) dream, right?!

Why? Why is this the dream? Yeah, I get it as a materialistic, worldly dream, but why is the Christian’s dream synonymous with the American dream? Why do we, as Christians, buy into this very treasures-on-earth mindset? 1 Timothy 6:6-10 still says,

 Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

How many of us can honestly say that with just food and clothing, w’re content? Could we be truly content without our smart phones, wifi, vehicles, air conditioning, laptops, books, shoes, movies, etc? I’m for sure stepping on my own toes with this because I like all of those things! And often, I desire more money to have all these things and more! And really, that’s the crux of it all isn’t it? More. That’s why Paul warns those who desire earthly riches and love money.

And that’s why I want to dream little. I want to abandon the American dream and pursue the Christian dream: “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have.”

I don’t want to bring kids into a world where they receive every desire of their hearts in an instant, or have an ever-abundance of anything other than love and tools to help them grow spiritually. Those are the reasons I want to start now in ridding my own heart of the desire to store up earthly treasures. I have to stop dreaming of bigger this and more of that, and start looking to downsizing my life. Yes, even in the face of those years when my family might expand. Because I’d rather have less stuff and less space so that I can make room for more giving and more heavenly treasures.

Any suggestions on ways you’ve downsized your life? You can hit me up at emily@emilyhat.com or comment below!