On the subject of needed items

So we're moving into this new house. This house is bigger than the one we live in now. It has a bigger yard. It's in better shape. Overall, it's a pretty sweet upgrade from what we've been living with for the past 7 years. So, even just moving what we have into a larger, newer space is a real improvement. And yet...

I have this...list. And the list is growing.

Living room furniture - the living room we have is kind of mushed together. Nothing really matches. The couch is a decade old and has truly seen better days. I can count at least seven people besides the residents of this house who have slept on it more than once. And four different cats.

A gas stove - much to my chagrin, as will be thoroughly elaborated on in a future post, the new house has an electric stove. I strongly prefer gas. I feel so strongly about it that I have a working theory that the people in this world who are terrible cooks are not actually terrible cooks - they just have electric stoves. I want a gas stove. I'd rather have a 100 year old, tiny, rusty gas stove than the fancy new electric one that is ruining my life right now. (See! I really do feel like a gas stove would significantly raise my overall life quality right now.)

New dining room table and chairs set - see, we have one already. But it's small. Actually we have two. I forgot about the one we have in the basement that we don't really have room for right now. (This is what is wrong with America, People! We have entire DINING ROOM SETS in our basements that we kind of forgot about because they are hidden under an obscene and unnecessary number of towels!)

There are other things further down the list, and there are things my husband has on his list like a suspended train track for his electric train that goes through the entire house. :/ I think we all know that the train track line item will be meeting its death via red pen in short order. Aside from that, I have dreams of retaining walls, hedges, a third bathroom, elaborate lighting schemes, patterned area rugs, accent pillows, swooping curtains, a playroom, a bigger kitchen, a second floor. Le sigh.

What I've been thinking about regarding all of this is that I need to see it as a journey, not a destination. I need to have a vision for what I ultimately want and figure out how to do it a little at a time. It's really not that hard and it doesn't have to be so dramatic. The part I struggle with, though, is the false belief that acquiring all of these things I want will make me happy or content or somehow erase the "want" feeling I often have. History tells me that whenever I get what I want, I just want something else. Over and over and over this happens. And yet, I fall for it constantly. Life is tricky that way.

There is this bible verse that talks about being content in all circumstances. And that the secret to that contentedness is knowing that we can do all things through God. This is fascinating to me. Because it's like a real answer to this weird problem. It's like we get locked into the idea of one way of doing something. And yet, there are many roads to our end goal. Some we've never even thought of. If I think about why I want something - a gas stove - and I realize it comes down to feeding my family and friends so that they feel loved and cared for by me, then I can consider that I can probably do that with whatever God has provided - in this case, an electric stove. Or pizza.

It's really just a matter of the ultimate want or need. And being flexible in regard to the path of getting there. I want people to feel comfortable and cared for in my home. I may just need to get used to the idea that this is possible even if they are eating stir fry clumsily made on an electric burner and sitting on a toy box instead of a chair.