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Being Content With Our Homes

[/caption]Contentment is something I think about a lot, and I think it’s an important attitude to cultivate in regards to our homes as well.

That’s easier said than done sometimes, though.

Don’t get me wrong. I love our home. I love the lot our home is built on. We are blessed, and I don’t ever take that for granted.

But when you build your own house (or in our case, have the manufactured shell delivered and then do all of the finish work yourself), the many projects and details that are left undone – not permanently, but for a time as you prioritize the rest – can sometimes drive you batty.

Sometimes I fall into the habit of focusing more on what’s not done than what is done. To be honest, sometimes it feels like our house will never be finished. There are still door frames and trim and paint and flooring and…well, you get the picture.

And if I’m entirely honest, while I love to share pictures of my home, sometimes the idea of people visiting can be stressful because I’m afraid they’ll miss the beauty and just notice the things that aren’t done.

Our home now, three years later and still in need of landscaping and stone facade.
Our HomeOur home being assembled. Yes, I did climb that ladder at 8 months pregnant…But the reality is that contentment means being content no matter what. It means being content in a home that is unfinished because of a lack of time (hey, we have four children five years old and under…life is busy!) and a lack of money.

It means being content in a rental even when you’re unable to make changes and decorate it the way you want to.

It means being content when you’re in a busy season and the clutter has gotten out of hand.

And it means being content with unfinished decorating projects and landscaping.

I’ve shared this blurb from a book called Calm My Anxious Heart: A Woman’s Guide to Finding Contentment by Linda Dillow before. I have these principles hanging on the bulletin board in my laundry room, and I refer back to them often. I’ve been applying them to the way I think about our home, and they really do make a difference in my attitude:

  • Never allow yourself to compain about anything — not even the weather.
  • Never picture yourself in any other circumstance or someplace else.
  • Never compare your lot with another’s.
  • Never allow yourself to wish this or that had been otherwise.
  • Never dwell on tomorrow — remember that tomorrow is God’s, not ours.

Is contentment something you struggle with when it comes to your home? Do you tend to focus more on what isn’t done than what is done? Tell us one thing you LOVE about your home!