What makes my house a home...

This week has been trying for me in some sense of the words...
You see, I come equipped ( and you probably do too) with a little thing called a 'discontentment' factor. I know! I know! Shameful to think a christian woman who really does pursue Christ & want to be more like him, being something as sinful as discontent! Bare with me, here...

Our house is TINY ( we are talking 2 bedrooms for 6 people! And if you count the 2 cats and 1 dog that think they are human, well, that's 9!!) So, my awesome husband and I are adding on. I love this idea, but would rather build. Every time I see one of my friends NeW houses, I have to wipe the drool that has inevitably trickled down my chin, as I stand in awe, at a finished house ( TRIMMED UP & EVERYTHING!) where children don't have to be triple stacked and cupboards are organized because, well, they have more than 5! 

Living in such a teeny, tiny house has made me resent it more than anything. I get angry that the closets can't fit all our clothes and the bathroom has no linen closet and our entry room consist of a flight of stairs straight down to the basement, so NO room for coats and shoes! I get frustrated when my husband doesn't understand that a woman's house is her HOME & she puts alot of energy and work into it, and that's hard to do when the kids have to play in the living room for space, because the bedroom has 3 beds in it, so I am forever cleaning up toys out of the living room and kitchen! 

Mainly, I get frustrated because deeply rooted in my heart is an 'I deserve better' attitude that is creeping out and making me resent my precious home.

God called me out on that one,when he poked at my heart, as I begrudgingly thought about a great idea for us to build and my sensible husband hasn't jumped for joy, telling me " Best Idea EVER!" and started drawing up plans for a house that at least had a laundry room on the main floor, not tucked down in the basement, where cobwebs and angry spiders lurk!

And let me share, I am so thankful He did poke at my heart.


In my quiet anger about the less than brand new vehicale I drive and the 'cramped- for -space house fit' I was having, I felt God challenging me to embrace what He has so graciously blessed me with.


So, I am thankful for the hallway that displays my children's art work and painted birdhouses and noodle necklaces. I am thankful that even though we have 6 and our kitchen table only fits 4, so we drag a chair to dinner every time we eat, that we sit and eat as a family, pray and laugh together, and talk about our Lord. I am thankful that the smears from the dogs nose on the sliding glass door, begging to come in and the hand prints from a little crawling baby, that sits on the other side of the door, pounding away at the dog, are there. I am thankful that instead of bar stools under our island/counter we have three big ponies that the girls ride around the house. I am thankful that the corners of our walls are chipped up, from long winters when I let them bring in their bikes and ride around the house and they take a corner too quick!
I am thankful for the closet door, that doubles as a growth chart and how I have watched them grow over the last 3 years at this house, and how it breaks my heart at the same time, to know, someday they'll be grown...


I am so thankful for everything, but so thankful when I trick myself into thinking how little I have, God opens my eyes ( and mostly my heart) and reminds me of just how MUCH I have been blessed...


Be thankful, too.