A couple of days ago, I had some time to spend reading blogs. You know--the times you go to your friends' blogs, and maybe link to *their* friends, and on you go, ending up places you've never been. *Somewhere* in my travels I found a great, great article. It is from Trixi at Homestead in the Making.

The theme of the article was Contentment. This article actually quoted (and linked) to another. The article was about not wishing your life away, waiting for the "perfect" situation. As you can read on my sidebar, we live in town, but long to live in the country. We have wanted that for twenty or more years. We wanted the experience for our children. We wanted space. We wanted a big farmhouse. Maybe chickens. But, year after year, we plug on in an (admittedly wonderful) house in town. And now, six of our eight children are grown.

This is not to say that we haven't had a wonderful life so far. Our children had some opportunity, through friends, to have country experiences. Now, I have two married children, with babies of their own, one that lives four blocks away, and the other, a mile or so farther. If we moved to the country, we'd have to leave them in town. Kinda changes your definition of "quality of life." House, or grandbabies? I know which one I'd choose.

I really identified with these articles. Bloom where you're planted, and all that. But Contentment is more than that, I think. It has to be the Attitude. In the '80's, they called it an Attitude of Gratitude.

One of the things I can't have here in town, is All The Flowers and Trees I Love, and I can't have a Huge Vegetable Garden. So I have Some Flowers, and I have Tomatoes. Tomato sandwiches to come--yum. And yesterday I decided to move in the direction of being grateful for what I do have. And guess what happened? As I drove through my town neighborhood, I began to notice my neighbors' yards. Every yard is different, but when added together, I'll bet I could find all the flowers I love. I know where there are peach trees and cherry trees. I know people with larger gardens than I have. I have a friend with an apple orchard who told me yesterday that the Transparents (my fav "applesauce" apple) are ready for picking. Bring my sacks and get all I want.

I am so Rich. I am surrounded with all the beauty I need for everyday. I have a car that will take me to the ocean or mountains or deserts if I want a different kind. We have friends with old farmhouses. Maybe I'll have one someday. I really NEED to keep a dream--everybody does. But, as my dear husband always tells me, the joy is in the Journey, not the Destination.

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Posted by Carol

Wonderful post. We found ourselves in the same situation, wanting an acreage. We settled for a old Victorian home in a small rural town of 450 people. It was very hard to learn to be content with what we had and somedays I'm still working on it. However, I'm much more content now than I was a few years ago. I think contentment is something learnt over long period of time and something we will always have to work on in some way. Don't give up on your dream though, someday it just might happen.
~carol

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Posted by homesteadinthemaking

I think you are talking about the article I posted. I have a hard time with contentment. Even though we do live in the country on 10 acres for reasons I wont go into we are not settled here. We are yet again looking for somewhere else. Not to mention it may be in a different area. I want so desperately to be settled that I forget that God calls us to be content.
Blessings,
Trixi

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