Last Updated on February 20, 2024 by Stacy Averette
Do you want to be content with the home you have? I do! I want to be content with every part of my life but sometimes I find myself imagining what it would be like “If only I had this or that” or “If only I could do this or that”. Appreciating nice things and working and saving to buy them is not a bad thing. Wanting to make my home cozy and beautiful is a God-given desire. Just look at the beautiful world God made!
But if I consistently focus on what I don’t have and what I wish I had and fail to enjoy what I do have with gratitude, discontentment will derail me. I’ve been derailed and in the ditch enough to know it’s not a place from which I can live and serve.
In this post, I want to give you a gentle reminder to cultivate the habit of counting your blessings and being thankful and content with the home you have.
The Danger of Discontentment
Discontentment manifests itself in many ugly ways and often leads to envy and bitterness.
Recently, one of my children told me about a friend who has a newly remodeled kitchen. I heard all the details about new cabinetry, tile, hardwood floors, and countertops. She was genuinely thrilled and lovingly admired the beauty of the space. There was not a trace of jealousy or envy.
And just this weekend an HGTV star that I follow on Instagram shared a pic of her “old kitchen” that she’s preparing to renovate soon. My first snarky thought was, “I’d love to have an ‘old kitchen’ like hers.” I felt irritated at a person I don’t know personally for wanting to make her home more beautiful. As I clicked on more of her photos, I was reminded of her passion, sacrificing time and energy, to make the homes of others beautiful (while likely neglecting her own).
I was convicted about my discontentment and envy (once again) and vowed to begin (again) counting my blessings.
We live in a 1970’s ranch style home. When we bought this house it had wall to wall brown carpet, cheap linoleum, popcorn ceilings, and flocked (shiny) wallpaper on every. single. wall. The downstairs mother-in-law suite had orange shag carpet and brown paneling.
But I loved this house the minute I walked into it 16 years ago. I had a vision for the home it could become.
Today, we still have the old brown carpet, cheap linoleum, popcorn ceilings and orange shag carpet on the stairs. We’ve painted almost every wall, replaced a couple of toilets, survived an unplanned bathroom remodel, hung some new light fixtures, and made this shell of a house a home.
Discontentment is dangerous and destructive!
A contented, thankful attitude reflects a happy heart!
In The Kitchen
I spend A LOT of time in the kitchen and enjoy almost every minute of it.
My kitchen is very, very small but we’ve made it work even as we were raising a large family. Hopefully, one day we’ll renovate so I’ve created a Pinterest board called small kitchen ideas. I don’t have the space to recreate most of these kitchens but these pins are more about gathering bits and pieces of inspiration that I can incorporate into my space and budget one day. Here are a few of my favorites:
Since we bought this house we’ve replaced the refrigerator, the cooktop, the oven, and the dishwasher (three times) We currently don’t have a dishwasher unless you count Eric and me! ( We’re a team!) I still have the harvest gold sink and vent hood (fan doesn’t work). I have very little counter space and preparing a meal can be challenging. You know how people tend to gather in the kitchen? Well, they do here, too, and we bump into each other, juggle pots and pans, and somehow make it work.
But you know what’s the biggest blessing? I have some very special people to cook for and I love it. They love to eat and I love to cook. Can it get any better than that?
Would a new kitchen make it easier? Maybe.
Would a new kitchen make it sweeter? No way.
Sometimes I need to be reminded:
Remember When
As holidays and special occasions approach, I think it’s tempting to feel discontent about our home. TV shows, social media, and Pinterest show us all the beautiful possibilities. We might feel our kitchen is too small, there’s not enough room for everyone to sit, and everything would be better if we could tear it all out and start over.
I don’t know about you but I was blessed with parents and grandparents who never seemed too concerned about those things. And honestly, I never once remember going to their homes and noticing anything other than the friends and family who were gathered there. We laughed and stuffed ourselves with all the good food which was usually served on paper plates because no one wanted to wash the “real dishes”.
Maybe it’s because I’m getting older, but I’m more committed than ever to true, Christian hospitality. I want the friends and family who come to our home to always leave with fond memories of good food and sweet fellowship and to know above all else that they are cherished and loved.
Yes, we can still work at rearranging and decorating our homes to make them cozy and beautiful, but if we do so with a spirit of gratitude and contentment, with a focus on people more than performance, then we’ll be making the best kind of memories.
If being content seems too hard right now in your circumstances remember that the often quoted verse, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength” was written within the context of contentment. The Apostle Paul said:
I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation,
I can do this through Christ who gives me strength.
Phillipians 4:12-13