Counting My Blessings

I am truly trying to learn to be content in whatever state I am. Right now that means a house that sometimes feels about half the size that it truly is. Every week I find myself throwing things away or boxing things up to give away. But sometimes it feels like for every one thing I get rid of two more things sneak in. With eight children it is just an ongoing problem.

So today I thought I would list five things I love about my house to remind me how much I have to be thankful for.

First of all, I truly love where are house is located. We are a very short walking distance from a good-size mall, a grocery store, a dollar store (that sometimes equals more junk though), the library, a thrift store, two parks, our bank and most importantly to my husband a Tim Horton's doughnut shop. In fact, when we first moved here the Timmies was just going up and we were their second customers. ☺

Secondly, I love my kitchen - now. Last year my husband had it totally remodelled for me. I now have plenty of cupboard space with a large built-in pantry. My floor, counters and cupboard are all new, beautiful and so easy to keep clean. The old cupboards were always dingy no matter how much you scrubbed. I love the fresh feel to my kitchen. I spend a lot of time in it so having it fixed really made my day.

before the backsplash was up - looking nice

 

Thirdly, our house backs onto a small ravine. This means we won't have houses built up behind us. There are lots of trees with a small creek. It is lovely to lay in bed and see tree tops out my window. I can almost convince myself we are not living in the city. Our two older boys like to play out in that green area, and it gives them some freedom.

Fourthly, our basement has a finished room and basement with a bathroom that we were able to let the girls have for their bedroom. It's nice for girls to have their own bathroom away from the boys, and now our five boys can have two rooms instead of sharing one big one. This was a bonus for our big boys and all their legos. They can lock their door and keep their little brothers out of their projects.

Finally, our backyard is fenced in and a very reasonable size. The children have a nice swing set and I have a garden with two garden boxes and a clothesline. We can fence off my area to protect plants from curious fingers and the children still have a nice area for running around in.

Everyone looks so small to me. This was almost three years ago.

Our house and neighbourhood have some good qualities that I will miss if we ever get to move.

Your turn. Are you struggling with contentment? What do you do to gain it?