This early in the new year, there are still resolutions dancing in many people’s heads—save money, lose weight, work less, spend more time with loved ones—but while most of us desire change, it’s just as easy to become overwhelmed by the hard work self-improvement seems to require.
Thankfully, just in time to help kickstart those goals, blogger Ruth Soukup, founder of the popular website Living Well, Spending Less, has published a book geared toward helping readers find happiness by appreciating what they already have, in lieu of the constant pursuit of more. Named after her blog, Living Well, Spending Less is part personal history, part spiritual guidebook, and part practical road map to a simpler, more authentic, and happier life.
A devoted Christian, wife, and mother of two daughters, Soukup launched her blog in 2010 in an attempt to curb and cope with her then-out-of-control shopaholism, as well as to help others overcome similar dangerous, compulsive behavior.
Her need to keep up with the neighbors’ new clothes, new cars, big house, and other material possessions nearly cost Soukup her marriage, compromised her abilities as a mother, and distracted her from her relationship with God. Her blog quickly became an outlet for the life lessons she learned as she strove to return her attention to what’s important in life.
The topics of compulsive shopping and overspending might seem too specific to resonate with people who don’t struggle with the same compulsions (or those on a fixed income, for whom the idea of a “splurge” might be more modest than the author’s), but Soukup’s book has a broader appeal.
Instead of reaching out solely to those who rely on retail therapy, she also gently coaches people who are stuck in a creative rut, those who feel at sea in their own homes and other chaotic environments, and anyone who wants to refocus on priorities more in line with the Bible’s teachings about humility, generosity, and grace.
Soukup weaves meaningful selections of scripture together with other inspiring and encouraging quotes and gives practical advice to readers striving to appreciate what they have instead of obsessing over the earthly possessions they want. For, as Luke 12:15 warns: “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
She writes about having an “Attitude of Gratitude” and says that changing her definition of “the good life” has opened a new channel in her prayerful conversations with God: “Sometimes we treat prayer like a fast-food restaurant, barking out our order so we can get in and out and be done.” Simply asking God for favors or bringing our concerns before Him doesn’t help us appreciate the things He already gives us: A moment of gratitude can help open our hearts and allow us to see the spiritual abundance and contentment that is ours for the asking.
Of course, Soukup stumbled, made mistakes, and even failed at times, as we all do. These letdowns and setbacks merely made her more determined to grow and improve, however, teaching her that “failure is almost never fatal, and that life does go on and sometimes you just have to put one foot in front of the other until the new path becomes clear.”
Above all, Soukup emphasizes the importance of acting as Jesus taught us to act—which had nothing to do with wasting our time, money, or emotional energy on personal gain. She gently pushes readers to make an effort to reconnect with loved ones, to reach out to the sick and needy, and to identify and focus on our real priority, which should be to live in God’s image in everything we do.
She also gives advice on how to give back—if you love animals, try volunteering at an animal shelter; if you are a good cook, prepare and deliver a meal to a sick friend or a new mom in the neighborhood—and challenges us to live the adage that it is better to give than to receive.
“We forget that when Jesus told us to love our neighbors as ourselves, he wasn’t necessarily talking about the stranger on the side of the road or the child in need half a world away,” she writes. Our neighbors are the people right in front of us” [emphasis hers].
Having read Living Well, Spending Less, your first act might well be to lend it out to a friend who could use the lift: This book is a great act of loving kindness from the author, and no doubt will inspire similar generosity of spirit in its readers.
Ruth Soukup is the blogger behind the popular website, Living Well, Spending Less. Her book, Living Well, Spending Less: 12 Secrets of the Good Life (Zondervan, 2014), is in stores now.
