The first week in August is National Simplify Your Life Week. What better way to celebrate than by clearing the clutter from some area of your life– whether it be your closets or your finances. Two new books from Ambassador International are designed to help you simplify your life.

Declutter Now!: Uncover the Hidden Joy and Freedom in Your Life by Lindon and Sherry Gareis: Negative clutter can invade every area of your life—not just your closets. Relationships, finances, kids, jobs, health and spiritual well-being are all adversely impacted by the unnecessary and harmful stuff we accumulate and hold onto. That could be physical junk or emotional baggage. Declutter Now! will help the reader let go of those negative influences that impact our quality of life and our relationship with God. Since decluttering removes what you don’t need and gives you more of what you do, it only makes sense your spiritual journey will benefit too.

Total Home Makeover: A 20-Day Plan to Renew Your Space and Spirit by Renee Metzler: Transform your home with daily and weekly routines, family training, and room-by-room organization. Renee Metzler gave up a full-time career to become a full-time mom and home manager ten years ago. But she quickly realized she had never learned the skills necessary to do this job well. This book is a quick-start manual that will help any home manager do their job with excellence, taking your life from chaos to order. Each day includes prayer, a ten-minute coaching session from Renee and daily to-do list to help you turn your home into a haven.

As a special offer for National Simplify Your Life Week, anyone who orders a copy of Total Home Makeover or Declutter Now! by August 15 will receive a FREE digital copy of the book from iTunes. Simply email your receipt to [email protected] to take advantage of this offer. To help you jump start your plan, authors Sherry and Renee are answering questions about simplifying life:

1. How have you personally tried to simplify your life recently?

Sherry: Interestingly, Declutter Now! is largely responsible for our most recent wave of simplification. Writing a book, and all the elements associated with it, has demanded that we say ‘no’ to some events or commitments that we would have otherwise said yes to. We’ve simplified our schedule to make room for the priorities. Not always easy, or fun, but necessary!

Renee: I have focused on three areas: food, fashion and storage. In terms of food, my husband grows a beautiful kitchen garden each year.  I’m trying to use fresh vegetables daily to create simple and healthy meals. For fashion, I made a New Year’s Resolution to NOT buy any new clothes this year in an effort to avoid a cluttered closet and save money for my children’s Christian school education.  Storage-wise, my chaotic confession is the little red barn at the edge of our property.  It’s adorable from the outside and hideously disorganized from the inside.  It’s my summer organizational project.  To keep me motivated, I’ve planned an End-of-Summer Party for close friends and family.  This dinner party will be hosted in … the little red barn.  Talk about motivation!

2. Why should simplifying our lives be our goal?

Sherry: In Declutter Now! we talk about how ‘less can be more’, and this is much ‘more’ than just a cliché’. Our lives get cluttered with material stuff, unhealthy relationships, draining careers, poor health habits, financial burdens, and the like, leaving little room for the things that matter most. It just makes sense to simplify in order to have the time, money, and energy for the true desires of your heart.

Renee: Simplifying is about making room for what’s really important. We only have a short-time here on earth. We must choose to live for eternity (the spiritual kingdom), not the here-and-now (this physical kingdom). It’s about saying, “No.”  We can choose to turn from the clutter of this world:  material possessions, television, Facebook, chasing after worldly success, money, and status. It’s about saying, “Yes.” We can choose to invest more in the things that are eternal, that will go on living after this physical world passes away.  Things like a relationship with Christ Jesus, speaking words of encouragement and hope to our spouse, playing with and training our children.

3. How can your book help people simplify their lives?

Sherry: We address how to declutter eight different areas of your life by providing practical tips, life application strategies, and engaging stories. We help people gain an awareness of areas that should be decluttered and then encourage them to take action and make it happen! It’s our Declutter & GO! concept!

Renee: Total Home Makeover is a 20 Day Plan to Renew your Space and Spirit.  Each day, you will (1) renew your spirit by seeking the living God through {Prayer, Bible Reading and Journaling}, (2) renew your space in our daily couching session {called Let’s Chat} where you’ll learn one secret to managing your home more efficiently, and (3) apply what you just learned by completing the daily to-do list {called Get Moving}.  Partner up, earn rewards, use worksheets, learn a smarter way to manage your home, and laugh at my stories as you journey from chaos to order for a Total Home Makeover.

Feeling inspired by Renee and Sherry to simplify life? Don’t forget about our special offer just for National Simplify Your Life Week. From now until August 15 anyone who orders Declutter Now! or Total Home Makeover can forward their receipt to [email protected] to receive a FREE digital copy from iTunes as well.