When we first moved into our home six years ago…I LOVED it! I was so excited to have this great big huge 100 year old house…with six bedrooms and a huge yard and old ornate windows and a newly re-done kitchen.
The fact that this house was old didn’t bother me…old houses have lots of character. And, the previous owners completely remodeled many of the rooms and re-did the hardwood floors throughout the house…beautiful!
I still love my house…which has become our home.
But, sometimes…I don’t love it as much as I used to love it…
Funny thing about old houses. They have lots of quirks. And this house has a long list.
I won’t tell you our plumbing issues…but, well…we have some.
Those beautiful, ornate windows? Really drafty.
Some of the cracks and crevices throughout the house have dirt in them from the dust storms of the 1930’s. And I guess they always will.
Many of the walls are plaster…ever taken old wallpaper off of plaster?!
And you know our huge yard that I was once so excited to have? Now I want it to be bigger…and to have a nice fence around it…
And the whole house and the huge yard…I want it to be a few miles out in the country so that we can have some chickens for the boys to take care of…and so that we can plant an orchard…and so that my garden can be bigger…
So…this is where my mind goes occasionally.
Instead of looking around me at the beautiful home that I have…and simply being content.
And not only being content…but realizing that I have a lot more than most.
Because there are people in other countries…and people in this country who would be happy to simply have a bed.
And I have two extras.
And a lot of extra other stuff too.
So I will work to be content.
Because when I look around at what I really have…how could I NOT be?
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” Hebrews 13:5-6
Be sure to check in at Biblical Womanhood for more Make Your Home a Haven.
We JUST finished peeling FOUR LAYERS of old (and very interesting!) wallpaper off of my daughter’s plaster walls AND CEILING. We’ve already done our living room and dining room. Always a project around here, but we LOVE our OLD home!
I have had the same thoughts about my house, though we bought it new I still find myself wishing it were bigger and out in the country and on and on …..
It is a challange for meto be content with what I have but it helps when I stop to remember how much I do have and give thanks.
You have a beautiful house. You have my style. I know how you feel. When we bought this place 4yrs ago I felt this way. I loved the 40 acres but not the house. We to build in the back & this house was to be made into a office for hubby’s business. Well $$ wouldn’t allow it. I really hated this house. So I started to pray. God showed me how to love this house. Now I don’t want to build. Its a matter of putting the me touches to it. We finished the basement for more living/bedroom space. My Christmas gifts of late have been remodeling the rooms yr by yr. This yr it’s the laundry room. Our home is 30+ yrs old.
Laura-
Was that post written for me? I can so relate. Not about the house part, I move too much, but about the contentment part. I am always looking for something better or wishing I was somewhere else….
I do love your house! I know what you mean about old houses, we lived in one once and it was COLD!
Laura,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. This is a beautiful post.
Great post Laura. Your home looks just beautiful! We are looking at older homes as that’s always been our dream, but I can see where there would be some definite downsides. One thought I ALWAYS have to remind myself of is “we should bloom where we are planted.”
Amen.. remember Phil 4:13… I relied on that one when we rebuilt our inn in Montana
GP
WE live in an old house that we bought six years ago. Every year we do some sort of update. New windows, new furnace, new sump pump, new windows, paint, carpet, new windows. Get the idea? But when faced with having to move (hubby lost his job) I LOVE this house and seven acres in the country . . .