I am always so quick to see what my home lacks or things that it needs to be better instead of seeing what it actually is. When in fact there are a lot of things that are wonderful about it. I wonder if we spent more time seeing what our home is instead of what it isn't we would be more content and happy with it.
Right now I am trying to not buy much for our home. I am still in a season of purging plus we are at a financial point where we need to be watching a little more carefully what we spend to finish paying off purchases we made this summer.
When I run into a store to pick something up I usually end up wandering around to the home section where pretty pillows call my name. I recently bought three pillows and ended up taking two back partly because when I got home I realized there was no reason why I needed more pillows.
I am trying to keep this lesson in my head. I have trained myself to buy things with full intentions that I will take it back if it doesn't work. This has given me freedom to try things out without totally committing. Unfortunately this has also created a bad habit of buying things I don't need, holding on to it for weeks, and then realizing I lost the receipt. I used to have my purchases and returns under control but once it became unbalanced it was too much to keep track of.
Now when I am in the store and I feel the temptation to purchase something I try to remember how I felt about my home before I stepped into the store. I was content. I had no need for more. I was actually quite happy with the existing pillow situation as it is. Before I walked into the store, I had no need for what I was about to see and then talk myself into thinking I did actually need it.
And so I walk away making the right decision but disappointed. But that disappointment is temporary and I forget about it by the time my mind wanders elsewhere. And I do this because I know that my temporary disappointment is much better than the disappointment I get when I do take those things home and become overwhelmed about the excess in my home. Or the disappointment I feel on yard sale day when I look at all of those beautiful things I thought I loved but lost interest in months later.
There is great victory in walking away from things we don't need. And I am finally getting to a point in my life that I can get that. Instead I want to change my focus onto seeing my home for what it is.
Our home is a place where family and friends feel welcome and special.
It is a place that has room for my nephew to run around.
It is a place where I find great joy in being at. I find much contentment in just being in my home, taking care of it, and enjoying it for what it is.
I love that we are blessed with wonderful neighbors. Though living on a corner is not always my favorite, the amazing neighbors that surround us, watch out for our homes, and generously give their friendship and kindness outweigh the location of where our home is located.
I love that our second hand couches are comfortable...so comfortable that my dad is constantly falling asleep on them!
I appreciate that our home is small enough that I can holler to my husband in the other room and my nephew can follow me around as I clean and put things away.
Though we want to put a garage in one day, I am thankful that right now as we have the freedom to have more stuff, we don't have a garage to fill with things we don't need. We are challenged now to live with less before we make our home any bigger.
I am thankful for a home. A place to call my own. A place where I am free and welcome to create and express myself. This is truly a blessing that many do not have.
// I would love for you to share in the comments...what imperfect things in your home are you thankful for? Let's see our homes for what it is and not for what it isn't.
Check out all posts from the 31 Days of Creative Homemaking Series here.
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31 Days of Creative Homemaking for the Modern Day Woman is now available as an ebook! Click here to find out more about this entire series in an easy to read PDF download!
What a great post and such a great reminder. Thank you. We have been in our home for 4 years and I haven't really bought much for it, mainly because I haven't had the extra $$ to spend on things so my feeling is always seeing how "empty" it looks.
ReplyDeleteevery.single. thing! I am so grateful (now, of course) for the nightmare we where in, because now every stained pillow, scratched table, broken bookcase, etc has new meaning to me. Yes, one day I hope to replace it all, one day my house would look like I want to but I learned that if I could live for months with the contents of a suitcase, everything else is material and irrelevant. I do want to make my home pretty, but I know that what we have now is just absolutely perfect. I am seriously in love with this series!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is going to sound rather bizarre, I'm sure, but I'm thankful for my old bathtubs. Well water has stained them beyond repair, so I never feel the need to clean them very often. :o) If I had brand-spankin' new ones, I'd probably be in there with a towel wiping down the water spots after we all showered. :o)
ReplyDeleteI also have an extraordinary attachment towards couch pillows. I'd replace them every month if I had the money!
I am learning to be thankful for everything in my home. Our home was the first one we looked at when we decided we were ready to buy a house. It was actually a model home, and it had EVERY. SINGLE. THING. On our wish list. A blessing from God. But it wasn't long after we moved in that it became apparent that it was not the model home. I didn't have that furniture and couldn't afford all of the upgrades. I would look at House Beautiful and Traditional Home and just wish I had "that". Finally I remembered what a blessing this home was for our family and how it continually meets our needs. I let my magazine subscriptions expire and try to spend less time on pinterest. I cut back my blog list to only the ones that I helped my new mindset. As much as I want to paint or hang drapes, I. Love that it perfectly fits our family of five, that it has a huge open main living area that is ideal for entertaining. I love that I can stand at the sink washing dishes and still watch the kids do puzzles in the living room. I love that my kids can run straight out the back gate into a baseball field. It is our wonderful, practical gift from God.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I are going through this exact thing right now! We have a bad habit of sitting and talking about future huge renovations or what we can do to make the house look better instead of just appreciating it for the things that make it unique. We are in desperate need of me slowing down on the decorative accessory purchasing!! (I too have a pillow problem, and I am on pillow probation!) But here recently, I am most appreciative of this odd little corner we have in our living room... I put in some shelving and made a unique little bookcase area that everyone has complimented! Using a little creativity has led me to appreciate a lot of the imperfections in my home! :D
ReplyDeleteI am the SAME way with returns and receipts. Sigh. It's a habit I need to break!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I keep looking at pretty home decor pictures that have ginormous rooms two to three times bigger than the rooms I have in my condo. I think it's not just in one's home, but one's whole life. It's easy to see what's not there and forget what is. I'm enjoying looking through your blog, especially the homemaking series.
ReplyDeleteI'm thankful for my own bathroom. And I'm thankful that I have other spaces in the house of just my things. I can organize it all to my heart's content and dress it up as I see fit. I have places for me that make me feel important and productive and that means a lot to me. :-)
ReplyDeleteEven though I would love a bigger place some day, we have enough. We have enough for friends to come over. We have enough to be happy with. And the best part of my house is that I share it with my wonderful husband and adorable fur kids. :-)
i absolutely love that you show pictures of a house that is a home...and always thank God for it! we just moved into a new(for us, 6 years old) bigger 2 story home(family of five)and i still go in someone elses house and say ,man i wish i had ... Or go to Home Goods or Hobby Lobby and say hey we need this or we need that. And you are right about turning and walking away. Its like your hearts melts... especially when my hubby says honey we dont need that. But you are totally right you almost always forget down the road, what it was i desperately wanted...haha. So thanks for reminding me about that. Because I think that my Lord wants us to be happy with what we have! If we have Him in our hearts,He is all we need! Because He is our Provider and He is more than sufficient. Thanks again for reminding me that if i am still seating on our 10 yr old,prob.out of style couch and our have make shift end tables, and a handed down from my preachers wifes, we swapped, coffee table that is just fine!Im still blessed and my priorities are straight...lol.Thanks again , Nicki Thomas ... Nckt711@aol.com
ReplyDelete