This is the rental that we're going to call home for the next several years.
I'm posting it for a couple of reasons.
One.
My friend Michele wanted to be able to visualize where I'm at when we're talking on the phone.
Two.
I read a post this morning from Melissa over at The Inspired Room.
She talked about the importance of being content in life where you're at with what you've got.
There's a perfectionist that lives inside me.
She's not near as present and upfront as she used to be.
{Thank God for growth!}
But, she lurks around the corners and peers her perfect little head every once in a while.
So, I decided to show you a picture of where we're living.
Little Miss Perfect has been chirping a little louder than usual in my head,
and this is my way of quieting her down.
Here's the truth.
This house isn't going to be featured in a magazine.
This house isn't going to be featured in a magazine.
The yard isn't perfectly landscaped. In fact, it's not landscaped at all.
It lacks most everything that I pin on pinterest.
But, we are thrilled to be here.
It lacks most everything that I pin on pinterest.
But, we are thrilled to be here.
And, inside that front door, there is an indescribable peace and joy and contentment in our family.
I can live anywhere so long as I'm with these people.
We've met people in India that actually live inside a box.
Whole families who live inside boxes....
Honestly, I'm appalled that I sometimes find myself not wanting to post pictures of my home.
You know, until things are nearly perfect.
Surely, I'm not alone in this struggle.
This house is 500 katrillion times bigger than the boxes that many people in the world live in.
It has heat in the winter and air in the summer.
It has running water and toilets and showers.
I cook on a stove and sleep in a very comfortable bed.
My closet in this house is bigger than the boxes that we saw in India.
I needed to remind myself of the truth this morning....
God is a wonderful provider, and comparison comes to steal our JOY.
It is what goes on inside the walls of a house that make it a home.
{thankful for}
141. clear perspective.
142. warm beds.
143. soup and sandwiches.
Linking up HERE::
I can live anywhere so long as I'm with these people.
We've met people in India that actually live inside a box.
Whole families who live inside boxes....
Honestly, I'm appalled that I sometimes find myself not wanting to post pictures of my home.
You know, until things are nearly perfect.
Surely, I'm not alone in this struggle.
This house is 500 katrillion times bigger than the boxes that many people in the world live in.
It has heat in the winter and air in the summer.
It has running water and toilets and showers.
I cook on a stove and sleep in a very comfortable bed.
My closet in this house is bigger than the boxes that we saw in India.
I needed to remind myself of the truth this morning....
God is a wonderful provider, and comparison comes to steal our JOY.
It is what goes on inside the walls of a house that make it a home.
{thankful for}
141. clear perspective.
142. warm beds.
143. soup and sandwiches.
Linking up HERE::
Thank you for the reminder, especially as we prepare to head into days of decorating, cooking, celebrating and of course, gift-giving. It is too easy to get caught up in the whirlwind.
ReplyDeleteYour friend Michele is so excited to see the outside of this house,now I can visualize!!! Thank you. Love you.
ReplyDeleteit's perfect. you're right...it's home. i'm emailing you with some southern living questions too.... :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post. I'll take contentment over perfection any day.
ReplyDeleteI'm jealous of your rental. Contentment has come hard to us b/c we couldn't sell our teeny house for something bigger and with #4 coming, it feels smaller than ever. But I'm working on peace. I'm glad to have a place that doesn't take all day to clean, that's minutes from school and Ingles and friends and church. It's not the Southern Living home I've dreamed of, but it's home.
ReplyDeleteAmen, sister! Thanks for bringing the contentment this morning. I've been praying the same prayer these days!;)
ReplyDeleteHi! I've been reading your blog for awhile, but this is the first time I've commented. Thank you for this post. I really needed to hear it this morning.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for posting this...My husband and I recently moved back into the home I grew up in (an old farmhouse built in 1938), and it's quite a ways away from perfect. I'm struggling with trying to not nit-pick at the growing list of things that need to get completed. It's a beautiful home full of wonderful memories from my childhood. Your post is exactly how I find myself, selfishly feeling at times. Thank you for the genuine reminder of the true blessings God gives to us.
ReplyDelete-Stephanie
I love this post.
ReplyDeleteLove your honesty!
Love the house, your touches are so cute, hope you share more.
I rent.
Will for a long time (we move a lot with my husband's company)
God is using you as a huge encourager for those of us who dream like you, but cant have it...atleast right now!
Ps I love you pinterest boards ;)
xo
Lyss
truth in every word
ReplyDeleteyou echo the heart of so many women with your
soul baring words
I love ya no matter what you live in..truly!
thank you for reminding me today as we get ready to move yet again! I so needed this:)
xo
No you are not alone...I have posted about this same thing SOOOOO many times. In fact I have posted about having second thoughts about blogging in general. Only because for me, it can stir up discontentment and have me fidgeting in my own skin...unaware of how amazing my life is and everything in it. Including my 11 year old couch. :-) Thanks for posting this...it's good for those of us that struggle with this to challenge ourselves and each other from time to time. The house really is GREAT by the way. :-)
ReplyDeletegosh i love you
ReplyDelete<3
I totally get it! totally. I wish the little perfectionist that lives inside me would go away for good! She's trouble. ;) Wonderful post Tara! I think you're an amazing person!
ReplyDeleteI wish we could "suffer" like you're "suffering"! So glad to have discovered your blog, Tara! It's great to be connected....even if only through the blogosphere. Go Dawgs!
ReplyDeleteYour friend Michele's sister is so glad to see this, too. Honestly I think it is beautiful, but I could not say a louder and more heartfelt "AMEN!" about your thoughts on contentment. Thanks for the reminder...this could be the start of another chapter in that book you need to write! Maureen :)
ReplyDeleteword. i get that.
ReplyDeleteAmen sister~ you know I'm nodding my head and agreeing with everything you're saying.
ReplyDeleteBig hugs to you~
T
Well, it's true, what they say about "home" and where it is. Your heart is there, it's home.
ReplyDeleteBut also? Your rental is quite fetching, if I'm being honest. I like her!
it's beautiful tara. i know exactly what you are feeling. i've had those same thoughts too about the people in other lands and how they live. i don't deserve even one floor of the home i have and yet there it is. humbling.
ReplyDeleteHome Sweet Home... it is where your people are. I like your house. I have a perfectionist in me who rarely posts pics of her house b/c I get caught up in the comparison thing. I am giving thanks right here and now for my blessings.
ReplyDeleteI love your house! :)
ReplyDeleteAs a fellow renter (this is our 5th year renting), thanks for this post :) It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful... right?
ReplyDeleteOh, it's very cute. But, I know what you mean, Tara, a perfectionist lives inside of me too. Yesterday, I was just thinking of taking some photos in my kitchen, but then didn't know if I wanted to since it's not the way I want it to be, then the other part of my brain thinks about how silly I sound and how sooo many people would love to be in my position. It's a battle within me, I tell you.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great house! I totally get what you are writing about, but seriously...I LOVE it!
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting this. I reposted your friend's blog post and it really hit home for me too. Always wanting more and not focusing on how blessed I am. I really enjoy your writing and I now follow you.
ReplyDeleteumm..i love this house. inside and out. and i love you and your heart.
ReplyDeleteGIRL. Wow... I adore this entire post. I am SO on a journey like this myself.... man oh man... this was a good one.
ReplyDelete(I think it's awfully cute from what you show too by the way.)
that same person lives in my head too, although i think it's getting better. our house is old and far from perfect. but at the same time it's also lovely and imperfect. i love melissa, it's such a great message, a good reminder to us all. i had a conversation with my kids about how blessed we are just a day a ago. it's something we discuss often. we have so much to be grateful for, flaws & all. you're a doll Tara. susan
ReplyDeleteThanks for shutting my Little Miss Perfect up! I enjoyed reading this and am glad I found your blog....via Pinterest, btw!
ReplyDeletePreach it, girl! I was blessed by this tonight.
ReplyDeleteYour home looks beautiful. Mine is a lot smaller and so not what I want it to be. The internet is an amazing thing that links people like you and I, however it can also be a terrible thing highlighting what you don't have and making you compare yours with others. I am learning slowly to be content, this is my family's space and that's the best place on earth.
ReplyDeleteAmen, Tara.
ReplyDeleteYet might I quietly tell you that your rental house is gorgeous in my mind? In my neck of the woods of the NW, not very many houses are that beautiful! What you have would be a typical well kept yard around here, and your beautiful brick house that is far nicer than most of the homes I see in this immediate area of a naval town :-) ... it is funny because I moved here from Portland where gorgeous homes were more plentiful. When I moved here, I was in shock at the lack of attractive houses! I got the best house I could but it was SO HARD to find ANYTHING pretty at all!
So funny how we set our ideals in our mind, based on where we've come from and experienced in the past. We decide what we would be content with based on that experience. We settle for less than what we've had and try to be content, and yet as you pointed out, SO many people are content with far less than we have even now. We really are blessed. Thank you for helping us remember that!!!
xoxo & blessings!
This one made me cry. For all of the struggles in this world, God has blessed my family in only ways that He can. and yet, I still find myself annoyingly selfish in my attempts of making it perfect. I am not perfect, so I am not really sure how I can make anything, I picture myself as a kid with an grown-ups hand extended out to me and resting on my forehead while I swing uselessly. But I know that as soon as I have exhausted myself God will wrap me up and say Hey I've got this. There is a saying that I am loving right now, that states water your grass where you are at now and it will get greener. God Bless!
ReplyDelete