Guest Post: The Struggle for Contentment
Guest Post by Kelly at The Barefoot Mama
Paint the kitchen cabinets, add some crown molding in the bedroom, look into acrylic tub liners, install new siding out front, and what about a privacy fence in the backyard?
Welcome to just a few of the many thoughts running through my head on any given afternoon. I wish that I could say that my mind is mostly occupied with godly, edifying musings, but my sinful nature has a tendency to lead me down the lane of discontent. We all know what a dangerous road that is.
As a stay-at-home mom, I equate our house to my "office". I want it to be both beautiful and functional, maximized for ease of daily living as well as a wonderful haven for entertaining and making cozy memories with my family.
Looking at everything objectively, our house is great and has been a blessing to us, since we bought it right at the time of our marriage when my husband's income was a lot less than it is now. We've never had to struggle to make a mortgage payment for which I am truly thankful. However, the monster of discontent sometimes rears its ugly head and whispers in my ear, "Get out of this place, get something new, grander, perfect...you can afford it, you deserve it, your life will be better!"
We've all had moments of displeasure when the thought of something new or different seems to be just the ticket to remedying our problems. However, the Bible is very clear on the solution to all of our earthly, sinful dilemmas - Jesus is the way! While reading a wonderful book by Donna Otto called The Stay-at-Home Mom, I was both inspired and convicted when Donna shared the following anecdote in a chapter about saving money at home:
In 1981, David and I moved into the house we're living in now. The living room and dining room were carpeted with a rather low-quality celery-green carpet. Celery green doesn't go very well with most of our furnishings. But we knew this was the house the Lord wanted for us, so we had to deal with the carpet.
It would've been nice to buy new carpet, but it wasn't in the budget. So I immediately called the carpet-man and found that I could have the carpet dyed for about $200. We'd dyed carpets before, so I knew it would stretch the life of the carpet. So we dyed our celery-green carpet charcoal gray.
Seven years later our gray carpet was sun-streaked and faded. There were dark spots where the furniture had been sitting. The living room had survived one flood (in Arizona!), and the water-damaged carpet was literally falling apart.
We looked at our budget and decided there was no way we could afford to buy new carpet. I was disappointed because the room was a bit of an embarrassment. Yet I was absolutely determined to trust God for my carpetin, and be content with what I had. It wasn't easy.
As wives, we put ourselves in a very precarious place. We want so many things, and when we're home all day we tend to see the things we want even more clearly. We are quick to think how nice it would be to have a little piece of fabric for this room or a new chair or a bedspread in the master bedroom. It's easy to become discontent.
I had some of those feelings about my carpet. But I earnestly asked the Lord to give me a heart of contentment and gratitude for the many things He had given me and to help me wait patiently for the opportunity to purchase new carpet.
My prayer was answered in a most unusual way. After I had prayed about my carpet for almost 18 months, two decorator friends came to me and asked if they could help me spruce up the house a little by rearranging some of the furniture and moving some wall decorations around. I was delighted. Soon they began moving things around - and not just one or two pieces.
Our family room became the dining room, and the dining room is now a library. A sofa was moved from the living room to the master bedroom. Overall, a wonderful new look came over our house without my spending a dime. I was most grateful for this gracious gift.
At the same time this was going on, a dear sister in our church family was moving into another home, which happened to be much larger than ours. My decorator friends discovered that she was going to replace the carpet in her new home, a carpet that was in wonderful condition except for a few slight stains.
You guessed it. God in His providence allowed this dear sister to give us her used carpet. I discovered the carpet's colo the day it was installed: white - perfect, of course! I was most grateful for God's provision of that carpet.
Something else wonderful happened. Kim was a young woman who was living with us for a year as our guest in order to get her finances in order before getting her own place. The last month she lived with us was the month the carpet was installed. She not only saw the answer to my prayer unfold, she was part of it. Her financial counselor told her to make a one-month payment to use before she moved into her new apartment complex to help her adjust her new expenses. The money she gave us paid for the installation of our free carpet and covered most of the cost of cleaning it.
Our out-of-pocket expense for the carpet was just $15. It took nine years to get our carpet, but God is faithful.
How great is our God! Not only because of the steadfast care that He gives to us, but also because we find peace and contentment in knowing that He desires nothing more than to love and provide for us.
Kelly Buddenhagen is a joyful wife to her husband Ed and the blessed stay-at-home mother to their eighteen month old daughter, Mary-Grace. She lives in rural Pennsylvania and delights in growing in the Christ-blessed roles of wife, mother and woman. Kelly loves spending time with her family, friends and Lord...and likes to combine these get-togethers with a yummy Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee whenever possible. In addition to these great passions, Kelly is very dedicated to natural living, especially in the kitchen, and being creatively frugal. Visit her blog, The Barefoot Mama, for more encouragement.
Labels: Budgeting and Finances, Faith, Homemaking, Making Your Home a Haven
posted by Crystal Paine at 7:14 PM
11 Comments:
I really needed to hear (read) this today! My husband and I just finished going over our budget for the month and we are pretty tight. I was pretty discouraged and decided to check out a couple of blogs. I am so glad I did! I need to be content with what we have, because we truly are blessed! Thanks for sharing!
It is amazing how we can get tested in little things in being content! I find I am very content to stay where I am, with my house, but then I am not content with say perhaps the look of the yard or not being able to afford all the extra curricular things that i may like for my children. We all struggle in different areas!
I think it is a wonderful idea to change around things and feel like you have a new house!
Thank you for sharing this. It is really encouraging in my own struggle for contentment to rely on the Lord's faithfulness.
What a great article... Kelly shared some wonderful insights on an area that we all no doubt struggle with (I know I do!). Sometimes it's easy to think we'd have it all together if we could just change a few things... but contentment is really about changing my perspective, not changing my surroundings. Thanks for sharing, Crystal!
~Kristy
Homemaker's Cottage
Thanks, I enjoyed this post! I have similar stories related to our past life with an income and living in a house (we are now in Law school). We learned some valuable lessons being in our "dream house" but not being as happy as we are now in a 40 year old Townhome complex. The Lord teaches us in mysterious ways.
I love stories like this. I do struggle many times with being content. It does seem the more I stay home the less I think about things. It's stories like this that you see others with the same trials to face and you don't feel out of place like I sometimes do. I feel guilty that I sometimes have those feelings.
I heard this morning about Cambodia how the poorest people in our country live like kings compared to their living. They make around $200 a year for the lucky ones. So makes me think about how lucky I am.
Renee~
Crystal,
I am so honored that you shared my post. :o) Reading it again today further convicted me - especially since we are now actually MOVING, wow! However, we've chosen an inexpensive, fixer-upper of a house and are praying that our current home is a blessing to another. Grace will finally have her own bedroom - HOORAY! LOL! God has taught me so many lessons from our current place, the biggest of which is to BE CONTENT IN TRUSTING GOD. It's not enough to just be "at peace" with your life. You have to be happy in *following Jesus*. That means forsaking this world, doing things that you really don't always enjoy, letting go of your control issues and allowing the Lord ALL freedom in your existence. These lessons are invaluable and will come with us to our new, humble home.
How great is our God...I will never tire of singing His awesome praises.
Thanks for your perfect timing with sharing this today! ;o)
Love in Him,
Kelly of The Barefoot Mama
This is so true, but waiting for the Lord and His timing is tough at times. I am learning this as the Lord has called us to missions and we are to wait on Him for our needs to be met. As Matt 6:33 if we seek Him first, and His righteousness then he promises to provide what we need. Just learning to be patient is hard ;-)
Michelle
I have also come to the conclusion that Jesus knows what I need and what will make me happy better than I do. So I leave it up to HIM. He provides what He knows is best, I could never do it as good.
Wow, what an outstanding post!! Kelly is such a dear lady; her kind words of encouragement that she's left on my blog at times have been so wonderful! :)
That sounds like a great book! And what a wonderful story! God is so good! :) I could share testimony after testimony of amazing things He's done for my family. Each time, He's revealed to me again the fact that He's completely trustworthy, and that He has our best interests at heart-He has a far better plan for our lives than anything we could ever hope or make up for ourselves.
Crystal,
Thank you so much for this post. It really spoke right to my heart. It was truth that I knew, but needed to hear once again. It is so easy for discontent to creep in while I am at home all day wanting to to do so much and knowing that I need to stay on budget in order to honor my husband and the Lord. It was such a great encouragement to know that I am not the only one who struggles in this area. Thanks!
Would you mind if I reference your website and this article on my blog?
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