I have house envy...

but not like you think.

I have felt for a while that God is moving in my life in how I use His resources. I have this burden on my heart that there is more to life than what I have been experiencing.

Let me back up a bit. I have THE life. I have what the world says is success. I am married to the most wonderful husband and best friend of 22 years who happens to be a doctor, I have 4 precious children, a big house on 6 acres, a BS in elementary education which I don't have to use, 3 vehicles.... you get the picture. We have had our rough patches financially, especially when he was in med school and we were living off my teaching salary; but then when he finally started making money, we went to the other extreme. If we wanted something, we bought it.

I guess God's been working on me for a couple years now, but it's really hitting me lately. I don't know if it's the economy, the lack of what use to be stability if you were in the medical profession, having been to China twice now and seen the needs of the orphans, or more than likely all of the above. In the past year, I've noticed myself following blogs of people who are looking for ways to save money, cutting coupons, homemaking, challenging themselves to cut back, moving to the other side of the world to care for orphans... I've found sites on how to "work" the grocery stores and pharmacies. Sites on how to live with what you have.

We spent the weekend at BLR. We had such a WONDERFUL weekend. We have nothing out there. No legos, only a few toys, a handful of library books, schoolwork, an old Game Cube with 4 games, no dishwasher, no microwave, no TV, no internet... We don't even have official beds, just mattresses on the floor. There were almost NO arguments or meltdowns the whole 4 days (and with 4 kids, that's pretty major). Troy napped 3 of the 4 days (he had to go to work the 4th). We layed around on the bed and the sofa and snuggled. It was blissful... Can you believe I just said that about 6 of us in a 60' x 80' mobile home?

When we're here at this house, everything takes up our time. We half joked (which someone commented meant we were half serious) about moving out there. Giving all this stuff up and gaining so much more. We talked out there about how nice it was to not be slaves to our stuff. We just came home this morning and our 9 year old went straight to his closet and got rid of a bag and a half of clothes! The big black garbage bags! He said it really hit him about how much we have. What a difference being here is. Since being home, one daughter has fussed about which baby doll she wanted. She couldn't do that out there because there was only 1 doll and 1 stuffed bear each! The boys are taking apart an old computer and are arguing over who gets which piece... We didn't have any of this out there.

We've even been hearing this message at church too. Our church has been doing a series called the Kingdom's Economy.

So what kind of house envy do I have? A simple house. Uncluttered. Easy to clean. One that serves us and not the other way around. I know we have a LONG way to go on this new journey, but I am excited to see where God is leading us. I'd love for you to pray with us as we listen to God and discern where He's going with this.