Our house is over 100 years old. Sometimes it just feels so dirty. And creaky. And high maintenance.
Sometimes I feel like our house is a never ending project. It is huge and the exterior needs painting. Scraping, priming and painting this thing is taking forever and our house looks a little bit dingy while it undergoes the tedious and laborious process.
Inside, Matt’s been insulating several rooms. Plaster comes off, dust forms everywhere, drywall goes up – walls are still unfinished while Matt instead focuses on painting the exterior.
The bathrooms need help. Paint is peeling, the floors need tile. Something weird is going on with the bathtub. The sink has hard water stains.
Most of our walls aren’t smooth, mostly because they’re made of 105 year old plaster. They have chinks and dings in them.
There’s a big draft in our guest room. We don’t have central air conditioning. It’s hard to keep our house warm in the winter.
Do you want me to keep going?
No, you really don’t. I love my house and I’m thankful for my house, but it is very old and takes a lot of constant work to upkeep. I don’t think we’ll ever be caught up on all the home improvement projects we’d like to do.
Sometimes that really bothers me. We love having company, and sometimes I wonder what people think when they stay here. Are they noticing the cracks? The peeling paint? The weird thing going on with the bathtub? Do they see the dangling mini-blinds that our boys yanked down, the gap in the game room ceiling that needs repair, the piece of trim that is missing?
Maybe they do. Some of them surely do. Our house is a work in progress and my prideful heart sometimes cares too much about what other people think. It really shouldn’t matter and it’s not something that should worry me, but sometimes I let it get to me anyway.
But recently, a friend that I haven’t seen for a while came over. She and her family have been living in a tiny home with hardly any yard or living space for her kids to run around and play. She wasn’t complaining, just telling me the latest.
She kept exclaiming over how big my house is, how pretty the living room is, how nice it is that we have a garden, how beautiful my kitchen is, how great, how great, how great.
Really? My house.
Great? Pretty? Nice?
Did you see the unfinished drywall? The varieties of colors on the outside of my house as we go from yellow to bare wood to white primer to taupe?
It seems that it’s all a matter of perspective. And a new perspective is what I need.
What other people see or notice or think doesn’t matter. What matters is that I appreciate the gift God has given me. Even if the gift does have peeling paint.
My house is beautiful and we are blessed.
It’s all a matter of perspective.
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Lori says
So true! We are so blessed and we just have to keep reminding ourselves of all our blessings, thanking Jesus constantly!
Samantha says
This past week has been a crazy anxiety attack waiting to happen for my little family. Our landlords at our previous house decided to not keep up their end of the lease and refused to fix the air conditioner, the leak behind the washer that was rotting our bedroom floor out no matter how many towels I put down and buckets to catch the water, and told me our back yard was horrible when it is covered in rocks… sorry but have you tried to mow rocks? Its pretty much impossible and cost us $40 in blades for our poor mower..
Then we got into a wreck on friday and totaled our car. Thankfully it was just our vehicle ( and the ditch)and no one was seriously injured (minus my horrible back pain, chiropractor here I come…eventually…), but we only have my car at the moment since my husbands motor blew in his truck and we have slowly been rebuilding it to save on a mechanic..
So now that I am done complaining ( =] ), we are very thankful for one of my dearest friends whose uncle had a 2 bedroom trailer home we could move into ASAP and work out the deposit and everything with him slowly. Plus my in laws are amazing and bought us a new to us car (we are paying them back, it wasn’t a gift, just help since we do have a little one) which helps out greatly! It has been a rough week for us, but without all of our amazing friends and family, and of course our Amazing God, we would probably be living in a box with our broken car next to us.. Did I mention our friends also helped us move in 12 hours?? Yeah, they are the best =]
Laura says
Wow, after all that, it’s so encouraging to read about how your friends and family (and GOD!) have been taking such good care of you. Wow.
Samantha says
It was scary, i will have pictres of my car up on facebook as soon
as I find my camera. I am friends with your page on there if you can
find me =] Sorry it was a very long post, I have been waiting until
today to write this out, it’s been a rough past few days and I knew
this would be the place to show I am grateful for everything.
=]
Samantha says
*pictures
Samantha says
And I bet your house is beautiful, crazy paint and wacky bathtub included =]
Soccy says
Our house is about 50 years old and also in need of constant repair, inside and out. Being a new family, repairs are taking FOREVER because our priority is our children, homeschooling and feeding them well. I’m grateful to have the house and surrounding play space outside. We would be fine doing our repairs slowly if we didn’t get constant anonymous notes from our neighbors pointing out all the visible faults on our property or house exterior. We’re in a standard middle class neighborhood, but I neighbors fancy themselves royalty, I suppose. *sigh*
Lana says
How sad that your neighbors don’t even identify themselves while they complain. We have had neighbor trouble in the past and it is not fun but at least we knew who they were! The best thing you can do for them is pray. You do have your priorities straight!!
Jenifer Parker says
I would put up a sign ,that says WORK IN PROGRESS, thank you for your patience.
Jen says
Our house is only 50 years old, but I feel the same way. I deemed 2011 “the year of the house”. As in it’s time to get the home improvements done already! We’re almost done with a basement remodel that started at the end of January. It was already finished, but in REALLY baaaad shape! There was carpet… in a basement… that had obviously had water at some point. Yuck!
It’s taking forever, and we hired other people to do the hard stuff. It’s the painting we’re stuck on (doing it ourselves), with a 3 1/2 year old, a 7 month old, and a husband with a full time job. I can’t believe it’s already August and we still have the upstairs bathroom (once the basement bath is useable), and the kitchen/dining area to be done. Yikes! It may turn out that 2011 is actually “the year of the basement”, and 2012 is “the year of the rest of the house”. :)
When I am down about it, I too think of how very blessed we are to have this house. My husband bought it before I met him, and it’s a great house that we have made into our home. I just can’t wait to get all the updating (our kitchen/dining area has peeling, tearing wall paper that I swear my mother had back in the 80’s), maintanence, and TLC done.
We’re having an old friend and her husband as guests in two weeks, and there is so much I want to get done that just isn’t going to happen. I will remember this post, and be thankful that we have this wonderful house to host them in.
Lyndsay says
Our house is a rental. It’s small, it’s old, it needs repair. But it provides us with a home for our boys while my husband finishes his business degree and we wait to be able to buy. We have a huge yard, including a large garden. We live in a neighborhood full of little boys, so our kids always have playmates around. We are able to be much closer to our families than we were in our last house, and I thank God everyday He found us this house, even if He cut it close (we found it 4 days before we had to be out of our other house! Now THAT was a fast move. A family of 6 has A LOT of stuff!). It fell into our laps when we needed it the most, and I know it wasn’t an accident. So I know this is where we were meant to be for now.
Lanna says
Just because something’s new doesn’t mean it’s going to be maintenance-free. My house is 34yo, and oh man, have we had to do things to it. New doors/windows, floors, trim, garage door, appliances, etc. You don’t even want to know what’s still unfinished and been in-progress for 1-6 years.
I get the same way, self conscious about the house to visitors. But then I think if they really had a problem with my house and it’s upkeep, they could come help me stain-treat the carpeting and scrubbing the windows and doors since I have the four kids and a husband tramping dirt all over the place. :) It is what it is, and I’m quite fine with portraying normal mess to folks, vs. scarily neat and clean. Does crack me up when folks say ‘aren’t you cramped?” because it’s just the 6 (sometimes 7-8 when we have overnight guests) of us in just over 2000sf. Well, the kids do have to share bedrooms, but there’s worse things in life. :D My grandma raised her four boys in a modified chicken coop – I cannot complain one bit compared to that. :D
Oh, and if your visitors know your house is 100+yo? They’ll likely understand. My aunt and uncle have a house that’s been in her family for 3 generations, and is more than 120yo. Um yeah, we’re lucky there’s the one bathroom by the kitchen that you can turn around in (the previous one had a bathtub and toilet, maybe a sink in something like 10sf) and that the walls are still up (albeit with peeling 80yo plaster).
Kim says
People think 6 people in a 2000sf home is cramped?? Our house is half that size for 4 people. I do feel cramped some days, but most of the time I feel blessed to have a home, even if it’s not perfect. I don’t think I’d ever want much bigger than 2000sf. To me, the bigger the house, the more repairs there are and the more there is to clean. I laugh too at how our society always wants bigger and better. I have family who grew up in an 800sf home with 6 kids and they survived. I grew up in a rural area and where I live now is suburbs and people are shocked to find out how I and many of my friends grew up. While the home I grew up in is quite big, it’s 150+ years old and has many of the “flaws” Laura mentioned. My friends where I live now are surprised that the house I grew up in has only 1 bathroom and no A/C. They ask how we survived! I told them we didn’t know any different as most of my friends growing up also lived in houses with 1 bathroom and no A/C. Many of my friends had very large families and had only 2 or 3 bedrooms in their house, so they had to *gasp* share a bedroom. My one friend, there were 4 girls and 1 boy in her family and the kids all shared one small bedroom and there was only one bathroom in their house. Even the house I grew up in has just 3 bedrooms and the family that lived there before my parents bought it had 8 kids. Then I watch these home buying shows on tv in which the people are looking at some 4000+sf home with 4 or 5 bedrooms, one for each kid, and I laugh when they complain the bedrooms for the kids aren’t big enough. Seriously? What would happen if their kids ever had to share a room?
Lanna says
Exactly! We’re more of the camp that says the bedroom is for sleeping and clothing storage – not playtime or whatever. In the last few weeks our 3yo has even decided she wanted to bunk in the boys room with them in their bunk beds – so three kids in that room (potentially four when we get a mattress for the trundle). We have main living areas for that (living room, homeschool room, currently-messy playroom/storage in the basement). Although I sure am fond of the three toilets we have in the house – so handy when 2-3 of the kids need to, um, #2. It’s interesting going when we’re doing our own thing, that’s for sure. :D
Amy Bradsher says
I have the exact same issues with my house!
Vicki says
I so enjoy reading all these posts! I feel so normal now! We are finally beginning our remodeling project next week and I’m so excited. We have had 9 people living in 1600 sq ft for 9 years and we will finally be able to spread out. We’re adding a bedroom, bathroom, and garage. I’m thankful that things have worked out in God’s time, not mine, since I would have done it so differently if we’d been able to start it 2 kids ago and then it wouldn’t have worked as well for our large family.
Lauren says
These posts are encouraging me too! We just bought our first home and it is 88 years old. It didn’t appear to be much of a “fixer uper”, but we’re learning that any house this old has it’s issues. Apparently even new houses have issues! But the Lord provided it for us and He is providing people to help us fix the issues that we come across, and we are thankful. It is all about perspective :)
Heather says
I seriously loved this post! It touched me where I needed it today. Thank you for reminding me to be grateful!
Brenda says
Nah, your house is great – and roomy! :-) Between the two houses we’ve lived in during our married life, I’d say about 80% of the time something was all torn up somewhere (as recently as this spring when we lived for weeks on end with torn up floors in the main parts of the house… or last year when BOTH bathrooms were a mess of broken tile and jimmy-rigged plumbing for three months… and of course our stairwell currently has unfinished drywall that’s been exposed since February…!) Houses area always a work in progress, and my guess is that nobody notices as much as you do. :-)
Jill Roper says
We lived in my favorite house out in the country. When we moved in I told my family they would have to take me out feet first but then my husband got very sick, lost his job and then we lost our home.
We then moved in with our daughter,her hubby and 5 children. That now makes 11 of us in this house. Sometimes I grieve for what we have lost. I miss my own kitchen more than I ever thought I would.
And then I think of families in Africa who don’t have a place to live, who have little food and I feel ashamed. God forgive me for my lousy perspective.
I CHOSE JOY instead. It is a decision. I have a roof over my head, I have grandchildren to love on and an ample supply of food. Thank you Father for supplying my needs. He is worthy of ALL my praise.
Dione says
Amen
Kadee says
Oh, I bet I would love your house, peeling paint and all! I grew up in an old house, no central air, no shower (just a tub) and tons of other things that needed to be “fixed.” I now live in a 10 year old house – no peeling paint, vinyl siding, insulated well…but lacking in character. I am thankful for a warm, safe place to live, but every now and then, I long for the quirks and interesting features of that old house!
Kim says
I totally agree. I love a house with character, flaws and all, over a boring cookie cutter home.
Lana says
Our house is only 32 years old and constant work too. It was built of high maintenence materials that take alot of work to keep up. I remind myself often that God gave us this beautiful house that would cost a fortune to build at today’s prices for way less than market value 17 years ago and I am still thankful for it. Hubby and I really don’t need this big house that we raised our 5 children in anymore but it is full of great memories and fun times of the past. Now we are beginning to have grandchildren memories here too :)
The Gaertegang says
Our new house is only 13 yrs old. & I feel the same way sometimes. So many projects
To do, or things to fix. The other day I was feeling all sorry for myself when something else
Broke. My husband made a great statement that impacted my heart greatly.
” If you made a list of all the things to do,projects to complete, things that are broken, the number of blessings and praises on another list would still out number them.”
I know he’s right I just needed to hear him say it and bring back to an eternal perspective.
Raynea says
Laura, We are in the same boat as you….our house is 103 years old and what feels like a never ending project. We bought the house wanting to restore it, but never dreamed how long it would really take. You know, life gets in the way of all the projects getting done, homeschooling, sports, having the money and work. We have been working on it for 6 years but still have lots to do and now some things we did 6 years ago need redone ie….painting the exterior due to cracking and peeling paint. We have walls that need redone, insulation that needs put in, no central air, etc..etc..etc… I too sometimes worry what people think about our home, it isn’t all new and nicely put together, but with all that said we are so blessed to have our big huge home with land to have milk goats, chickens, a garden, fruit trees and loads and loads character. It is truly a matter of perspective! Have a blessed day!
Kristin says
Would it surprise you at all that we live in a brand-new house and feel the same way? There was no grass only clay when we moved in. The day we moved in it rained and we brought that clay in with the furniture. Six months later I still find clay handprints on the backs of furniture or footprints on the floor. We’ve had problems with wiring and air conditioning (we’re grateful for the one year complete warranty, but a little impatient about the 3 weeks of waiting to be able to use the upstairs outlets). Meanwhile, friends who had never said anything about their financial trouble lost their home to foreclosure. Perspective!
Amy Lynne says
It’s always nice to have a fresh perspective!
Lori W. says
Great thoughts, Laura!
Jessica Bish says
As a mom of two (2 & 4) and expecting #3 and just starting this stay-at-home journey plus homeschooling in the fall it is all about perspective. :) Thanks for the honest post.
Suanna says
Your house sounds beautiful. I grew up in a house that is over 100 years old, my parents still live there. I remember the dust when plaster walls were torn down to put up sheetrock. It is a mess and the character of the walls is then gone.
Heather in Michigan says
Sometimes I compare our house to friends of ours who live in a GORGEOUS subdivision with wooded lots and cul-de-sacs and I feel cheated. Then I think of the single moms who may be living on the ‘wrong side’ of town in a small apartment and the things they must struggle with. I am blessed beyond belief to have my husband and our house- no matter how much work it needs.
Kim says
I’ve been there sometimes, but then I have friends who would probably give anything to have what I have. Tiny house and all. I hate when I’m jealous of others when I know I should look at all my blessings instead.
darialauren says
” I’ve got a mansion! Just over the hill top, in that bright land where we’ll never grow old! And some day yonder, we’ll never more ponder, but walk the streets that are purest gold!”
Heather in Michigan says
I love this!
Amy says
I totally agree! It’s not about what you don’t have as to what you do have. Be gratiful :)
Jennifer says
This makes me think of the “houses are like people” saying (at least, I think it’s a saying…maybe I just made it up…I’m not sure! :o))-the older they are, the more character they possess. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder (gee, had enough cliches today, ha!) and a home is no exception. Filled with enough love, all of those other “minor details” can be easily overlooked. :o)
Dione says
We are renting a tiny old trailor with doors that do not close, windows that are cracked ( we actually wrapped the entire trailer in plastic last winter to keep the heat in, I lovingly called it shrink wrapped)and I could go on. This dump that should not be lived in is a blessing to my family when others would not see it as so because we have another house in another state for sale that isn’t selling. We need a roof however flimsy that doesn’t cost much and that allows the chickens, turkeys, ducks, guinies,geese, rabbits, dogs, cats, goats, and horse that my children and I have. It comes with 20 acres and permission to tear up the yard to plant my 5000 sq ft garden. It’s all about perspective. We do not invite many people over because the house will not fit anyone and if it did, well, they would be scared to enter, I know I am. However, the children are blessed to have room and keep their livestock, which provide food for us, I can garden to my hearts content and we have been able to not loose our other home while waiting for it to sell. Perspective and Faith that God will keep the walls up and roof on:)
Kim says
I LOVE your shrink-wrapped home!! :) And hey, I’d rather have the 20 acres, than some big fancy home with no property. And I have to say I’m jealous of your garden. I have my small veggie garden that I love, but because my yard doesn’t get much sun and isn’t that leage, I’, sticking with my small garden for now.
Jessica says
Thanks for the reminder. I love our house (also 100 years old with constant upkeep!) but we live in a crowded city neighborhood with tiny yards. We long to be on property with room for a huge garden and space for the kids to run crazy. Sometimes we wonder if we’ll ever get there, or get there before the kids are too old to appreciate it.
But then I remember the millions of people that don’t have a speck of yard. Or the people that aren’t blessed with big 100 year old rooms. And I realize that I really do have so much. Perspective and contentment are a great gift to the heart.
Jean says
I would love to see a picture of your 4 color house and then another one when it’s finished. I bet it’s going to be just beautiful!!! :o)
Kathryn says
At the moment I’m reading an EXCELLENT book called “No Longer a Slumdog” by K.P. Yohannan. This book tells the stories of the hundreds of thousands of children in India who live in the slums and what is being done to help them. I literally wept during the first few pages. The book is new and can actually be bought for $5 from GFA.org. Once you get the book in the mail there is an insert inside the book which you can mail in and get a FREE 2nd copy. All of us know there is poverty in the world, but this book to me really opened my eyes at a time I needed to see just how blessed I really am.
mom23girls says
I think the “feel” of a home is so much more than the looks. A beautiful home with no love is just a museum. My brother and his wife used to live in an old shop that they fixed with running water and a toilet….but that was the homiest little place. You couldn’t help feeling so comfortable. I truly believe it was because people knew they were welcome there.
I don’t think people even notice your peeling paint and cracked walls, Laura!
Kelly says
Reading your Gratituesday post today was so good for me to hear as I have so often felt that way about our home, when in reality we are so incredibly blessed. We have been working none-stop for 3 years to get our home to a livable, warm condition without exposing our little boys to asbestos, lead- based paint and other wonderful dusts and crum! :) The original part of our home is about 100 years old, and though I have always wanted an old home we could fix up, I had a cooler, more intricately designed home than the one we have in mind. But, in spite of our old home not having any insulation in many of the walls, really old wiring, carpet in the bathroom (??!!?)and kitchen and some lack of framing around a couple of the really old wndows, the addition that was added by the previous owners’ 17 year old son was shocking and horrible as we tore a couple of exterior walls up to replace them due to extreme water damage (and it as added just in the 80’s!). I am not complaining, mind you, because that would be very silly, :) Just commiserating! :) Through it all, though, and through my discontentment, God has shown me over and over why He has placed us here, and He has also graciously given me te best husband ever, who has patience and the ability to put up with my need to rip everything apart to make it “better.” I spend far too much time worrying that someone coming to visit will see the undone trim in the kitchen, the wrecked spot in our fairly new living room floor from the leak in the bad shower from the guest bathroom, or the lack of grout on our just-laid-last-year tile floor in the kitchen because we used the wrong stuff. But as a wonderful lady shared with me: people who love you are coming to see you, not your house.
Honestly, one of the most humbling things I have had in the last 3 years is watching and listening to my boys love where they live, how they cherish their home and what it represents, and to thank God for giving it to them. They show so much excitement when we finish a room, and are always offering their help (though this doesn’t always work for a 6 and 9 year old). Just the other day, our 9 year-old was working so hard to hold pieces of siding for me as we covered a wall to surprise Dad when he got home. God is so good to remind me of the blessing I have in my wonderful family and to remind me, as we drive through town when we are in to go shopping for the week, that I don’t have to live 2 feet from my poor neighbors (which is handy for the neighbors because we can be quite noisy!) and our boys live in a safe place where they can fish and swim, ride their horses everyday, raise chickens and learn all that we can share with them.
Thank you for your post today. We have some family coming in just a few hours and as I started to stress that everything wasn’t just right, I was reminded that it simply desn’t matter. Thank you. I am grateful!!
Linda says
Thank you Laura for this post and perspective. I have been ill for almost 8 years now and have a very difficult time keeping my house clean and maintained. This has caused me to dread visitors and go out of my way to keep people away from my home. So far from the grace of God and the joy of hospitality. I’m very glad to hear I’m not the only person in the world with this problem. I need to be thankful for the home the Lord has given me, do the best I can, and let Him handle the rest. Thanks for reminding me of that and for being so transparent about your own struggles.
Jenifer Parker says
100 year old house, WOW, an antique, it’s priceless then :-)
Kelly says
I’m going to ndiffer a bit on all the previous posts…even though I am very thankful for my house.
Today however, I am most thankful for my children. For the messes they leave behind, the noise they make, the frustrating days….as well as all the hugs, kisses and dandilions in mason jars. I wouldn’t trade them for anything.
Many of you may have heard about the 11 year old girl (Celina Cass) who went missing last week and was found dead yesterday. She wass my cousin’s step-daughter. Thie grief my family is going through right now is beyond anything I can ever imagine. So today I am thankful and grateful that I still have the blessing of being able to hold my babies tight and tell them how much I love them.
Kim says
Kelly, I just heard this morning about Celina. I am SOOOOO sorry about your family’s loss. I can’t even imagine what you are all going through. I pray for strength for everyone during this hard time as I don’t know what else to say or pray for. And thank you for the reminder to be thankful during the frustrating days. I don’t know what I’d do if I ever lost either of my bboys.
Kelly says
And sorry for all the typos…I broke my hand last week and now am hen-peck typing
Amy says
Okay…I’m tearing up now. My 100 year old house (I call it the Gray Beast) is just like this…and I feel OVERwhelmed by it all the time. Thanks for the reminder to be grateful. It’s a blessing, no matter how old and broken it is!
Lisa says
Just wanted to thank you for giving us the opportunity to particpate in the link up. About a week and a half ago, my husband lost his job. We are a one-income household and homeschooling family and this was completely unexpected. Thankfully, we are debt-free but we don’t have a lot of cushion so things are a bit precarious right now. However, God is always good and faithful and has been showing up BIG TIME in our lives right now. While I am still anxious and scared at times, I am completely in awe and humbled by His goodness and grace to us. These are tough times but I relish the opportunity for my four children to see our faith lived out in tangible ways and see God move in extravagent ways. It is nothing short of miraculous. Thanks again!
Maura says
Reminds me about how much I complain about my commute. It is a LONG drive into work each day. But, I am so thankful for the job I have and cannot find this kinda work to provide for the family close to home (we live in little town). Everytime I hear myself complaining, I have to remember that if I didn’t have a job it would be way worse with no roof over our head and no food and no clothing!
stephanie says
your course of study looks great. for spanish, check out instant immersion. it’s a rosetta stone knock off. i picked up ours at costco for $32 and it’s comparable to 3 years of rosetta stone. it’s very similar to rosetta stone and the kids enjoy it. it’s fun and a great deal for the price!
http://www.amazon.com/Spanish-Levels-Instant-Immersion/dp/1600775411/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312316221&sr=1-1
good luck!
stephanie
Ashley says
Loved this post today Laura. Currently have pea green, 70’s shag carpet in my living room, but I am so THANKFUL for our home. When I take pictures of our kids, they look like ones from my childhood… it’s really quite funny if we can keep our sense of humor! Keep looking up!
Crystal says
Our house was built in 1918 and in need of quite a bit of work when we bought it. I can empathize with you, especially about the “dirtiness.” Thanks for this post! I needed a dose of perspective.
Malinda @ vintagehomesteademporium says
I know how you feel with the never-ending list of “to-do’s” with your home. Ours however, is our yard. I am learning to “what lies in front of me” (from Elizabeth Elliott) and taking one day at a time. Not easy some days.
Thank you for your wonderful blog and inspiration!
Blessings!
Elizabeth says
Wow. I can definitely relate to you on this post. Our house is also 100 years old and we’re right in the middle of fixing it up. We’re skim coating and sanding and doing all that stuff, and on the days when that is hard, I have to remind myself that our house is a blessing, not a burden!
Bethany says
My mom and I were just discussing house-cleaning today. Thanks for putting it into perspective. You reminded me that it doesn’t REALLY matter how clean the house is, what matters is the heart inside the house :)
heather rinker says
AMEN SISTER!!!
Kelly @ The Nourishing Home says
We’re in an older home too and our bathrooms are practically falling apart – I love what one of your friends said above about “I’ve got a mansion, just over the hilltop, in that bright land where we’ll never grow old” and neither will our mansions there! Thanks for your always inspiring posts and for allowing us to share recipes each Tuesday. We’re celebrating National Peach Month at The Nourishing Home, so I shared three of our favorite peach recipes. Blessings to you and your family, kel
Michele in WV says
Love this post! We live in a newer home 17yo but it was foreclosed when we bought it. Much work has gone into it. I miss our previous home (90yo) It is a much smaller house than the one we had before also. But the Lord brought to mind yesterday how blessed we are. We have a limited income but we have very nice stuff. We have MUCH to be thankful for even though we lack for storage space. Matter of perspective is so important.
Tara says
A sweet friend of mine directed me to your blog several weeks ago and I have really enjoyed it. We are a one income homeschooling family. I have been having an issue with this for several years. I used to have company over all the time and prepare meals, but somewhere along the way I started seeing my home through muddy glasses. The house was always in a wreck and I could see paint peeling, and plywood floors and old furniture. I have not had any company over in several years. In fact my in-laws only live 13 miles away from us and they only come maybe once a year. In fact I discussed this with my husband just a few days ago. He has never said anything to me about it but he realized it to. It wasn’t something that happened over night, it was a gradual thing, we switched churchs for one thing and I was to shy to invite anyone from the new church over. All I could think about was the stuff that needed to be fixed. Well the Lord has been convicting me about this and I have decided to get my big girl pants on and make my home more hospitable and keep it ready for company (clean) and not worry about the rest. So I understand where you are coming from. We just need to remember how blessed we are, I believe that the Lord will not give me anything more until I learn to love what he has already given me and take pride it it and care for it.
Laura M. says
Thank you for this post! I definitely needed to hear this right now. At the moment my husband, baby boy, and I live in a small 2 bedroom apartment. Our air is broken, the vent to my dryer is inside the house so as of now we are unable to use it, and I just found out that baby #2 is on the way so including the heat each day, I am exhausted. However, I am so blessed to have a home with a kitchen, living room, 2 bedrooms, bathroom, wonderful bed. I am blessed to have a living room full of books, a best friend who live next door, and a husband who loves me and a baby who explores everything and recently learned to sit up in our living room. Thank you for reminding me that it’s a blessing to have my home.
Karen says
I am thankful for a God who is bigger than all of our little problems put together. I am thankful that my Mother is still alive after suffering from an aneurysm burst on her September 5, 2008. More importantly than that, I am thankful she survived the massive stroke during emergency surgery to fix it. I am thankful she has shown the doctors that she will not die as they said, but she will LIVE, as God said she would. I am thankful that she is NOT in a vegetative state, as they said she would be, but that she can somewhat communicate. More than that, I am thankful for God’s promises of healing and salvation. If my Mother were to pass today, I would still count it as a complete healing because I know God said we will have a NEW BODY in heaven. My Mom is a miracle in progress and nobody but God will get the glory for her healing! “And if our God is for us, who can ever stop us, And if our God be for us, who can stand against?”
Blessings to you and your family!
Amy @ Finer Things says
So. How ’bout that big gaping HOLE that my refrigerator sits in?! I feel you on the old house, friend. And I love you for it, and am THRILLED when you come to MY house, knowing “It’s okay. Laura has a well-loved house, too.” :)