Home Sweet Simple Home

Home Sweet Home Part 2

I spent the better part of a year dreaming and fantasizing about a home in the country. The perfect house with the right amount of bedrooms, bathrooms and storage space- The perfect spot of land with room for chickens and assorted small animals. a small barn and hiking trails . . . . I think you might know my dream. The dream began to eat at me and the more I thought and planned (and schemed) the more unhappy I became @ home, my current home. It was easy to criticize and find all the flaws in this home- no dishwasher, old plumbing, cold in winter, too hot in summer (no central heating/air here), leaks, creaks, uneven floors, not enough bedrooms and on and on. I think you can hear the whining and discontent from where you are.

Maybe you can imagine it. Maybe you’ve lived it too. I was wallowing in a horrible pit and I doubt I was making life that much more enjoyable for my little family.

Then came a couple of revelations: First, a friend told me about this weird website called FlyLady.net. I won’t go into all the details but thru FlyLady I found that I had way too much clutter (hence the desire for more storage space) and wasn’t keeping up my home as I should (cause I didn’t like it!). So I loaded up tons of “stuff” that was needlessly cluttering up my home and practiced keeping only “the things I love”. I found I liked the more simplistic look (without all the knick-knacks and doo-dads) and realized that perhaps that was part of what my life was missing- Simplicity!

In my search for simplicity, I realized that I was missing the simplest act of all: Spending time in God’s presence, basking in His love and affection for me, seeking His desires for me. As a youth pastor, I was all about doing the business of the LORD rather than letting him be in control all my business/life.

Hence, Revelation #2: You won’t be content until You find contentment in the LORD and all He has given you.

I was so wrapped up in all that I was missing- all that I thought I “needed” that I wasn’t enjoying/appreciating what I had. So taking the time to seek God and His will, His way; I found that contentment. In fact, I found such blessed contentment as I had never experienced before. I realized I was beginning to live out Philippians 4:11-12:

. . . . I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.

I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

That is my desire- to be content no matter the circumstances, to know that a home is what you make it to be (and allow God to make it to be). I have found a new love for where God has placed me “for such a time as this”. When the roof leaks, I am thankful we have a roof (and foundation). When the cold air pushes in I am thankful and content to snuggle up in a fleecy blanket and sip hot cocoa. When I wash dishes I am thankful for hot, running water and the simple fact that I only have to pour it down the drain to dispose of it. I found more storage space by getting rid of and storing less “stuff”.  A smaller home means less square footage to clean and those you love are nearby rather than shut away in their own “area” of the home.

In short, God is teaching me contentment right where I am at (even if it's not necessarily where I want to be!), He's teaching me to appreciate what I have and to find a blessing in the midst of the chaos.

God is good

ALL the time.

I feel for you!

9:13 PM, 2006-Jan-9 .. Posted by halfpint5

I know exactly what you are talking about here. I have spent the better part of my life wishing for something different than what I had. One day while listening to a Joyce Myer's tape, she had the message...'you have to get happy with where you are at in order to get to where you are going.' Oh boy did that make sense! I made the choice to be happy then and stay that way. Of course, I still have the dream of a homestead and farming my own land but I am happy with what I have and will be if this is what I will have the rest of my life. If this is where God wants me, then it is where I want to be.