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You are here: Home / Large Family Living / The Secret to Being Content with What You Have

The Secret to Being Content with What You Have

Large Family Living

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Packed like sardines. Busting at the seams. Maximum capacity.  

Whichever way you spin it, we’re full!  Small house, big family means it can be crazy, chaotic, and… interesting? We may very well be packed like sardines, but we aim to be content in our sardine-ness.

Almost twenty years ago, when we bought this house, we assumed it to be a “starter house.” We had no idea that we would still be living in the same 1500 sq ft house eight kids later. We recently added on about 280 square feet, which gained us a bathroom, a bedroom, and a larger dining room. Whew!

There are times when it feels really tight. Truthfully, it can be downright frustrating with ten people, especially when eight of them stay home all day most days. And then the rainy days–oh, the rainy days!

Related post: Finding Joy When Joy Seems Lost

Call to Be Content

A few years ago I was very convicted about my constant desire for “bigger” and “more.” Certain scriptures kept coming back to me. Verses like…

Matthew 6:25-26–

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
and…
Hebrews 13:5–
5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
and…

1 Timothy 6:6-7–

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.

 

God’s Word so strongly urged me to be content in my current stage of life! I realized that this is what He wants for us: to be content in all things, [for us] to be cozy and content in our little house for as long as we are here. Strangely, once I had that realization, I felt a peace that I hadn’t felt before. 

How to Be Content Being Sardines

How can you be content when you feel like you live in a sardine can?

I must confess, that I don’t always feel the peace that I felt that day on the swing when the conviction to be content hit me. And sometimes, I still want to start over.

But we are choosing (continuing to choose) to focus on what we do have rather than what we don’t. When you live in a culture in which things are very important and label who you are, that’s tough.

Think back to your grandparents’ house, your great-grandparents’ house. Typically, houses were much smaller. Actually, 100 years ago, the average house size was 700 to 1,000 sq ft with one or two bedrooms and maybe a bathroom. (Chicago Tribune) Couple that with the fact that family sizes were typically larger, and you have a “sardine can.”

I remember my mom telling a story about how she and two of her sisters shared not only a bedroom, but one full-sized bed. The house did have three bedrooms (parent room, boy room, girls’ room), but it was small and didn’t have a bathroom for many years. And yet, she remembered fondly and enjoyed telling me how they were content in their tiny house.

Related Post: Change Your Perspective: From “Have to” to “Get to”

Bottom line:  Focus on what you do have!

The Secret to Being Content with what you have _ Even in a sardine can!

A Gentle Reminder

When I struggle with wanting more, I’m reminded through Scripture to be content in this cozy little house. I remember the warmth, the laughter, the comfort, and the love in these four walls. We brought all eight of our babies home to this little house, and right now, I want to enjoy those memories right here.

What about you?  Where are you in your journey?

Listen, it’s okay if you have a big house, but it’s also okay if you have a tiny one. What matters is that you are content with where you are. I know that’s hard! If you are feeling uncertain about where you are in life, take a step back and try to be thankful for where you are.

Let us find joy by remembering God’s promises, remembering the blessings, remembering what we do have, and remembering where we’ve been.

April 13, 2017 · 14 Comments

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Comments

  1. Rachel Arnold says

    April 13, 2017 at 2:44 pm

    ❤ I love this. ❤

    Reply
    • Brina Lynn says

      April 14, 2017 at 9:07 am

      🙂 Keeping it real!

      Reply
  2. Sabra says

    April 14, 2017 at 9:04 am

    I love you my sister! Great post!!

    Reply
    • Brina Lynn says

      April 14, 2017 at 9:06 am

      Thank you! I love you, too, little sister!

      Reply
  3. Angie says

    April 14, 2017 at 2:41 pm

    It’s great knowing there are other Moms out there dealing with life, just as I am. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
    • Brina Lynn says

      April 14, 2017 at 3:02 pm

      Angie, I’m so glad you are here! 🙂 It’s better in the trenches when you know someone is with you, isn’t it?

      Reply
  4. shan says

    April 17, 2017 at 9:07 pm

    There’s just something about a small, humble house where everyone is close in proximity AND relationship. Hang in there. There’s a lot of love in that house of yours. Love this sweet post.

    Shan

    Reply
    • Brina Lynn says

      April 17, 2017 at 9:09 pm

      You are so right! Thank you for encouraging me! 🙂

      Reply
  5. Liz Tolsma says

    April 19, 2017 at 8:36 am

    Very well said, as always! You are a true encouragement to me. We’re sooo looking forward to downsizing. This house is getting to be too much for us, especially as we’re rocketing toward becoming empty-nesters. Bigger is not necessarily better.

    Reply
    • Brina Lynn says

      April 19, 2017 at 10:20 am

      You don’t know what an encouragement you are to me! 🙂

      Reply
  6. C. Marie Courson says

    April 19, 2017 at 12:40 pm

    I LOVED IT! It is so amazing how things change when our attitude changes. Thank you so much for thinking of me and sharing!

    Reply
    • Brina Lynn says

      April 19, 2017 at 12:54 pm

      Attitude definitely has everything to do with it!

      Reply
  7. Andrea says

    February 21, 2019 at 11:14 pm

    We’ve been struggling with the opposite, do we stay in a large house with enough room for kids to run around when it’s freezing outside and the snow is too deep for a toddler to walk, or do we move to more acreage and try to get minimal and get rid of TONS of stuff just to squeeze in? I just don’t know what’s right. The small property needs tons of work, this property needs none. This property has downsides like the annoying association with its rules (no solar panels, no chickens) and our enormous electric and gas bills. … But we would incur more debt to live in a smaller space that needs a ton of work, with our 4 children. I’ve been praying for guidance since we began thinking about it, and your post might be the answer to my prayers. Just be content where you are at! This is fine, we can make the yard more secluded some how and just make it work. Life is so short and I don’t want to spend the rest of my kids’ childhoods trying to make a new house a home for us all. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Brina Lynn says

      February 27, 2019 at 10:10 am

      Andrea, first, thanks for stopping by! Second, I’ll be completely transparent: I go through phases of being content and I have to remind myself. Honestly, I wouldn’t want to incur more debt, BUT, sometimes that may be necessary. We are getting ready to close in our carport so that we can have a couple hundred extra square feet–we NEED it! We are busting at the seams. And while that will cause us to have more debt, it’s what we need. I’d continue to pray and seek the Lord’s guidance, but while you wait for an answer, seeking contentment helps!

      Reply

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Hey, ya'll! I'm BrinaLynn, wife to my high school sweetheart, homeschooling mom to 8, coffee drinker, and friend of the written word.  My desire is it to encourage you [and me] as we find ourselves in life's trenches--and to somehow find joy there!

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