Last spring we were batting around the idea of moving. We’d even gotten a Realtor to show us a farm we loved. We were serious enough to start pricing barn restorations. But there’s this thing about buying a new house. For most people (and that would include us), when you buy a new house, you have to sell your old house. And that quickly posed a problem.

Now is not the time to sell a house.

There are too many houses for sale at rock bottom prices, and no one wants to buy. The house next door to us was foreclosed on this year, and the bank could not sell it, even though they were only asking about half of what it sold for three years ago. So we’re staying. And with the current financial mess our country is in, we may be staying for a long time.

As I’ve said before, this is a 1,200 square foot, three bedroom house, with a half basement. Cozy. Especially for a soon to be family of six. (Hence the idea of moving.) But we’re staying. And I could be grumpy about it, look at everyone else’s big house, and feel deprived in this world of McMansions. I could get frustrated at the idea of having four kids share one bedroom, worry about what people might think of visiting a house where the front door opens into the living room instead of a nifty entry hall, or fret about the narrowness of the kitchen.

Or I could count my blessings. It’s a lot more fun, and Biblical.

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. –1Thessalonians 5:18

So, for everyone who lives in a small house, or even if you don’t, here are all little house blessings I can think of.

1. Less house = less stuff! That means less stuff to sort, keep track of, re-organize, and otherwise shuffle. And that means more time for other things like reading books, going to the park, or baking cookies.

2. Less house = less stuff for the kids, too! That means an earlier nipping of materialism in the bud. We’re out of space, so we just can’t do the huge birthday and Christmas thing. Our kids are growing up thinking that it’s normal to buy Christmas presents for kids in third world countries through the World Vision Gift Catalog, or that birthdays are about sharing an adventure with their family rather than opening mountains of presents. Less kids’ stuff also means a more manageable amount for small children to keep picked up and put away. (Notice I said, “more manageable,” not “manageable”–we still have too much, and it’s often not put away, but I’m holding out hope that with less stuff there’s more chance to conquer the junk pile.)

3. In a small house, everyone has to get along because there aren’t many places to skulk off to. And that means that we really have to learn to be kind or everyone’s miserable. You can’t fake it when you’re all in the same room for most of the day.

4. A small house is an adventure. It can really be challenging to get things optimized, figure out what you need, what truly makes life better, and what just gets in the way. We try one thing, then another, rearrange, and try again. It’s like a puzzle, fun if your attitude’s right.

5. In a small house, homeschooling is more integrated into everything else I do. I can set the kids up at the kitchen table with school work, and start in washing dishes, and then when my daughter calls out that “six and seven are thirteen,” I can say over my shoulder, “yes, very good!” And then of course when the children get up for the umpteenth time, I can notice it, even if I’m starting dinner. And if I’m reading to the baby on the couch, I’m still only a few feet away from the table, so I can still be answering questions.

6. And let’s not forget the obvious, small houses are easier to clean!

7. Life in a small house is like a constant vacation. Well, not really, but there are rich people with big houses who buy small houses, which they call “cottages,” that they retreat to for family togetherness and bonding and to enjoy a peaceful, more relaxed pace. We’ve got a great view, bunk beds in the kids room, and no TV–sounds like a “cottage” to me! Just think of all the family togetherness and bonding in our lives since we actually live here. (I’ve given up on the peaceful, more relaxed pace at this point because, like I said, we have three small children, with another on the way.)

And there you have it. Those are all the blessings my current brainstorm produced. Maybe you all can think of more?

This entry was posted on Monday, October 6th, 2008 at 9:58 pm and is filed under Welcome Home. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.