I am thankful for our baby #8 who will be making his grand entrance sometime soon -- I really and truly am.
But may I just say that I'm more than a bit unsettled that this little man has NO WHERE to go? I'm not kidding. He's going to be in our bedroom until...
I can't see how we'll add on again, or how we'd pay for it if we could.
My husband and I have spent more years than I care to admit having to sleep on blow up mattresses in our own home while our small ones got our bedroom. For over a year our "bedroom" was our living room. Doable, but really not fun. We had to pack everything up every morning and stow it away, and then take it back out and sleep on couches and such every night.
If God ever sees fit to bless us with some way to add on, I would love, love, love something like this:
Wow... isn't that just beautiful? Her kitchen is amazing, too. Take a few moments to poke around her blogsite and enjoy the amazing home she has created for her family.
Now before I lapse into self-pity, which is NOT what I'm trying to do here, I have to say that God has already shown Himself to have our best interests at heart. A few months ago a friend of mine replaced her water heater, and offered us her basically brand new "old" one. My husband wasn't too excited about the prospect of replacing ours at the time, so I didn't take her up on her offer. A few days ago, however, my husband asked me to PLEASE get a plumber to look at a leak he had noticed around our water heater. Turns out it was almost rusted through and was ready to burst. Said friend still had her "old" water heater to give us, and voila! We now have a 50-gallon heater rather than our old 30-gallon one, all for the price of installation.
He filled the need we had before we ever even knew we HAD a need, in other words.
If He can do that, He can certainly take care of all these other things.
I tried to remind myself of that when I went to spend time before the Blessed Sacrament this morning... to THANK HIM for all He's given us, and not to freak out and worry about what He hasn't. He knows all my hopes and dreams, all my fears, and my frustrations. I must trust that He will take care of all these other things as well.
Still... I can dream, can't I? *wink*
7 comments:
Whoa, that house is huge! Everything is sparkling white, too. I shudder to think of how my boys could trash all that white woodwork, furniture, etc. in a DAY. So just think of all the time you save on cleaning with your smaller house :)
I do sympathize about the bedroom dilemma, though. We have to switch up the bedrooms again and it means that the two-year-old has to come BACK into our room. Oh well, it is only for a year and then the oldest is planning to leave for college and we will switch everything again.
Hope, I would like to think I save time cleaning a smaller house, but I think I spend more time wringing my hands in frustration that we simply don't have room here for everyone and everything!
I keep trying to travel light, but 9 (soon to be 10) people require a LOT of luggage, no matter how you look at it! *grin*
But to be able to put ALL the girls in one room and ALL the boys in the other, along with all their clothes and books... wow... that would be amazing.
Those rooms are amazing, and huge. It would be wonderful to have a built in bunk like that. I'm right there with you with the space issue, and we only have 3 children. We live in a small apartment and are praying we'll be able to buy a house sometime next spring, it'd be wonderful to have some storage space. Right now our bedroom closet is full to the ceiling with bins and boxes and stuff that we really have no room to store anywhere else. My daughter's closet is the same, we have the Christmas decorations bin and the frame to a bed that will be hers once we move and the boys are no longer in bunk beds. BUT I do have to say, I am thankful that I have a place to live, when so many have lost jobs and homes and just everything. I am blessed my husband has a good and stable job, I'm able to stay home with my kids and even that I'm able to complain about not having space.
Casey, I pray that you and your husband can buy a home for your family next year!!! May He bless your family richly!
My bedroom sounds a lot like yours.. we have a twin bed that Marie will grow into under there, as well as all sorts of Christmas boxes and craft supplies that simply have no home in our closet. It's hard not to feel claustrophobic when everywhere you turn you see... stuff...
I purge and declutter and purge some more and still, everywhere I look, I see chaos.
Part of the problem is that I was raised in much bigger houses, so my growing up years were filled with SPACE. Everything had it's place, and it was calm and restful. To me it was normal, but now, when I ask my parents and find out how big those houses really were, I say "no wonder you were able to do what you did! Those houses were twice the size of mine, AND you had a basement each time!!!"
I hope I'm not sounding like I'm begrudging anyone having a house like that. She has been blessed, and she's taking care of her family, and she's got great taste. If we had the wherewithal to do something like that, I'd be all over it like white on rice, as they say. That would be a fantastic way to do the boys' and girls' rooms!
I do try not to wallow in it. Like you, I count my blessings (which are innumerable, actually!)... tell Jesus I trust Him to take care of our needs... remember His care in the past... and look at books like MATERIAL WORLD to see how the rest of the world actually lives.
Ouiz, what a beautiful witness of being open to life you are! As you know we live in a very wealthy area and I see families in huge houses around here every day. Sometimes I get jealous of all their nice things...but the kids are sent to school and daycare all day. They don't have to worry about money (my dream!) But I wouldn't ever trade with them. The kids are neglected and lonely. The parents are never home to enjoy their things. They think they can only handle one or two kids. Its Really sad. Your kids will have the best memories of childhood I can imagine!
Beth, thank you for your encouragement!!! I am reminded over and over again that "we pick our luxuries," as my friend always says. The luxury we picked was a stay at home job for me and children. We have been blessed. Thank you for reminding me of that.
Yes, you do live in a "difficult" area -- lots of BIG houses -- and it's hard not to compare ourselves to others. It's also hard to remember sometimes that this isn't all there is, and we aren't working for things that don't last.
My goal is to find contentment... and a decluttered home! *grin*
We're in the process of decluttering as well. We do have one more bedroom which John Paul will be moving into soon. That room has so much junk it in from our "past lives" - college pictures, wedding stuff, all our books, etc. I have no idea where we're gonna put all that stuff - I might beg mom and dad for a little basement space ;)
Also do you save clothes for future kids?? Cause we have a ton of boy and girl clothes and I've given away at least half of it!
After this kid we'll start bunking them up :) - You know I always wanted to share a room with a sibling when I was little. But I only had one brother so that didn't happen. I'm pretty sure my kids will share rooms - God willing we'll get more kids!
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