On the cusp of our second Minnesota winter in the Tiny House, I’ve been invited to expose the dreadful details of tiny living for Tiny House Magazine’s October Issue. But, with such a compelling movement filled with homey abodes and optimistic minimalists, I struggled… what could be scary about our newly found freedoms?
Looking for inspiration, I turned to social media and asked: “If you were about to move into a Tiny House, what would be your biggest fear?” I was quickly flooded with responses spouting the same fears everyone talks about: claustrophobia, stench, family feuds, etc… All fears that would quickly be dispelled if the opportunity arose to step inside one. A nasty dark cloud of negativity crept in on me and I quickly deleted the post.
When we started praying and planning for our Tiny House we truly were fearless. We never doubted, never talked about the “what ifs.” We just plowed ahead with the obvious and oblivious expectation that fewer things and much smaller bills would provide for a simpler and more amazing life! Other people, however, generously offered us their fears. What about winter? What about equity? What about all your stuff? What about the kids? Defending our family decisions became exhausting and one day fear started to sink its teeth into me.
See, I think when you pray for guidance, hand over control to God, and fully rely on Him you won’t have all the answers. And that’s okay! Basically, I wanted to tell the naysayers, “I don’t know but we’ve been praying ferociously and we trust that God will have it all figured out when we get there.” But that’s not a good enough answer. It’s unrealistic, unorganized, unprepared. But, whatever! Trusting God was good enough for us!
This isn’t a passive trust. I’m talking about the eyes-squeezed-shut, leap of faith kind of trust.
The day that fear crept in on me was dark. I honestly didn’t know where we were going to live and finally, for just one day, that shook me. I’d been asked so many times and had always been content to gush, “I don’t know!” with a smile. On that day not knowing was scary.
Fear is evil. Fear’s goal is to derail with any obstacle that causes doubt, hesitancy, and worry. I could not let it settle in. These obstacles drive me forward. There must be amazing blessings on the other side.
I prayed a lot. I forced my focus on all the ways God has taken care of every problem that we’ve entrusted to Him. I continued to shake off the dark cloud.
God, we trust You. Show us Your plan for our lives, blow down the obstacles, rebuke the fear, guard our hearts, blast open the doors that you’d have us walk through, and make us courageous!
Once the fear was replaced with peace, I realized that God had used the vulnerable state that I was in to show me that He put us in this Tiny House, not for security, conventional, responsible, safe, realistic purposes but for HIS purposes. God put us in a house with wheels. This isn’t about being realistic. It’s about being ready, available, and flexible to follow His plan. It’s about being fearless.
This article, written by Kim Kasl, was published in the October 2015 issue of Tiny House Magazine.