Thursday, March 17, 2011

choosing to be content

rumor has it everyone has an addiction. mine? home decorating/diy blogs. (and coffee, but that's an entirely different post...)  so i spend a lot of time on blogs like Young House Love, Just Pleased as Punch, A Thoughtful Place, and The Yellow Cape Cod, just to name a few.  i just LOVE looking and learning from all the creativity.  i love that these ladies (and men!) take so much pride in their homes, i love that they are thrifty (especially sherry and john over at yhl!), and i just love stealing their ideas learning from them.

here is the problem::  we currently live in a one bedroom apartment.  one that we cannot paint.  one that is not even big enough for all of our stuff, let alone, big enough to add to with re-done furniture, and all the awesome diy artwork i've found browsing all of my favorite blogs.

the bigger problem?  i've been struggling with discontentment.  i know. it's ugly.  i look at these sites, these lovely houses, paint colors, re-done furniture, diy projects and i want to have it, i want to have it all and it makes me unhappy with my own home.

this past week i kinda had a "come to Jesus" moment.  i realized that the root of my discontentment was spending all this time on all of these fabulous sites.  well, the thing is, i love this new hobby of mine.  i love reading blogs, i love getting an inside look at how other moms and wives decorate and take pride in their homes. i love learning all the fantastic diy projects and how to decorate on the thrift.  so i made a decision. i made a choice - because, let's be honest, i am choosing to allow this discontentment to grow as i look at these other sites. so from now on i'm choosing to turn that discontentment into motivation, and let me just tell you.... i have organized every nook and cranny of this one bedroom apartment in the last couple of weeks.  laundry closet: check. bedroom closet: check. linen closet: check. our itty bitty but cute little deck: check. (the list goes on.) we have the most organized one bedroom apartment in all of lexington.  i'm sure of it.  i've also started an idea book.  i just took a 3 ring binder, some page protecters, and started printing out the ideas that i just love, for when we do have a home that we can call our own.  this way i'll be ahead of the game when the day comes.



here's the thing:: at the end of the day, jonathan and i have everything we need.  we have a home. we have jobs. cars. food. clothes. our sweet, and weird little pup. and we have each other. i am reminding myself often that this is more than most of the world has, and i am choosing to be thankful.  and one day....one glorious day, when we are blessed with our first house, i will go ape crazy decorating and diy-ing from wall to wall.  and until then,  i'm going to do what i can to be a good steward of the home we've been blessed with, choose thankfulness, and turn that ugly discontentment into motivation.



"....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."  -the apostle paul

3 comments:

  1. Can I please see pictures of said "organized spaces". Pretty please?

    ReplyDelete
  2. You know that if you ever feel the need to do any diy projects - I can leave a list :) For all that free time you have when the kids don't need you're attention of course . ....

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love this post. When I went through my divorce, I moved from a 2100 square foot house with detached 2 car, 2 story garage on an acre lot into....an 1100ish square foot condo, no garage, limited parking and the tiniest yard ever. When I married your precious uncle almost 4 years ago, we figured we'd just stay here until the real estate market got better. We have chosen to become the masters of "small space living" and we love it. We may move one day into something bigger, and we may not. We are in no hurry because we have learned to be content! It's a wonderful thing to be liberated from feeling like we need to keep up with others, isn't it? Best wishes to you and your hubby!

    ReplyDelete