Contentment

When we found out we were pregnant with our third child, Jeremy and I sat down to take stock of what we needed before he arrived. As most of you know, he was our surprise, so we had given away all things baby. The thing we thought we needed the most was a bigger house, but we decided to wait until the baby was older before we moved. We have a beautiful four bedroom home that we could actually live in for the rest of our life. Here are the reasons we think we need more house...

Toys have taken over our house
The boys rooms are too small
We have no storage for linens, towels and medicine
We need an upstairs game room for the kids to play and have their friends over
Because we do not have a game room, we can not host church small group meetings - no place for the kids
We can not have overnight guests because we do not have a guest room
Our bedroom is too small and it has turned into an office, exercise room and storage area
Our closet has turned into a storage unit - we have to be strategic to get our clothes out
The backyard is tiny
The kitchen table is too small, only seats four, we need a bigger kitchen to hold the bigger table

The list is all relative depending on where you are in life. Some of you may think that with three crazy boys you need room for them to play and run - "I can not believe you have not moved sooner". Others may think - "are you kidding me, I would just love to have a house".

A couple of weeks ago my house started closing in on me. The medicine would fall out on me every time I needed a measuring cup, I was tired of toys being decorations in our family room, the vacuum was always in the way when I tried to get a towel or hang Jeremy's clothes up - just a small sampling of my whining. I was not happy with the way I had been acting and knew something had to change. I started praying that God would help me be content with what we had been given and realize that if we never get that bigger house, that we have all we could ever need.

I want our children to be aware that there is true need in the world and I want to teach them to give their time and be selfless with the resources God has given them. I do not want to teach them that it is wrong to want things - I just want them to be aware of things and to be grateful for what they have.

Karla, at Looking towards Heaven, had an amazing post regarding contentment and being thankful that just confirms everything God is teaching me. Take some time to read it - it helps put life in perspective.

This is my last post until next week. I want to wish you all a wonderful, safe holiday with family and friends.