My old house....

The past few weeks I have really been struggling. I MISS my quiet country abode. The past few days I can't stop seeing what I gave up:

*big, beautiful house
*HUMONGOUS yard
*expansive garden
*swimming pool
*fireplace
*riding lawn mower
*5 garages
*more than 1 bathroom
*QUIET, secluded existence
*firepit
*wind turbines
*that BIG country sky
*rolling farmland
*the smell of fresh air
*a clothesline

I literally have tears in my eyes just from typing that list! I miss my Iron Ridge address.

 I know! I know! I know!

*We need to be closer to work, hospitals and family.
*We are saving money hand-over-fist by living in Milwaukee.
*no more CRAPPY country Internet
*yada yada yada

But I miss having room for this loud, crazy family to spread out. I miss being able to let my kids RUN, free & WILD about their neighborhood. I miss not sharing a toilet with a 91-year old woman who CANNOT keep things IN the toilet. I miss bonfires and grill-outs and ROOM for parties. I miss my KITCHEN!!!!!

So what's a girl to do? I shed a few tears, allowed myself a little mopey time, but now it is time to pull up my big girl panties and figure out what's the lesson to be learned here. I think there is more than just one.

1. NOTHING IS PERFECT! No matter how great something seems. No matter how ideal, God-timed, fabulous something is, NOTHING IS PERFECT! This tiny, little home I currently reside in is ideal. Moving in here was perfectly timed by God. Being closer to everything/everyone and saving TONS of money is FABULOUS. But NOTHING IS PERFECT. We had to give up A LOT for ideal, God-timed and fabulous. That doesn't make this new address, this tiny place any LESS AMAZING. AMAZING doesn't have to be perfect.

2. NOTHING LASTS FOREVER! What this lesson means TO YOU I do not know. Does it mean, hug your kids because you aren't promised tomorrow? Does it mean appreciate your expansive home because tomorrow you could be in foreclosure? Does it mean value your health and your youth for each day you're only getting older and you may not be healthy forever? I don't know. For me, it means be grateful for our jobs which are allowing us to make ends meet; be grateful for benefits which allow us to see the doctor, get glasses, and save money on our cell phone bill; be grateful for young children who are still living under my roof where I can love on them, teach them and build them up; be grateful for the friends, family and other blessings I have.... NOTHING LASTS FOREVER so the lesson for me is to be careful of taking anything for granted.

3. It is OKAY to feel. Sometimes as Christians I think we feel we have to slap a happy face on everything. But it is OKAY to feel.... to be sad, to be frustrated, to feel overwhelmed. We are human and it is OKAY to feel. We just have to be careful we do not allow our feelings to control us.

So I'm going to allow myself to feel a bit mopey.... to remember my REALLY COOL house with sad nostalgia... but then I'm gonna pull up my big girl pants and get on with what I need to do... remembering to appreciate everything I have.