Living Without Furniture

Working Towards My Dream House*

We have been living in our home now for 16 months, and still haven't been able to furnish it. Up until this month, we have been carrying two mortgages, and two households, with one paycheque. It's been crazy, and I had to put my dreams of a dream home, on hold. For the first year or so, I would sit in bed and fantasize about each room, decorating it carefully in my mind. But there was still no sale of the trailer, and still no full-time job for me. Thus, dreams had be postponed for a long time!


Living without furniture (we have some, but not enough to furnish it properly) has been a trial for me. I really had a hard time with it, but had to learn to surrender to the LORD, and let it go. I know it will come in time. And we are NOT going into debt! Yay! Most people today will go into debt to make everything so-so, and we are not. Therein lies the big difference, and the pinch that I feel. Very few of us do without anymore. It's very out of style. But we have been doing it: not racking up any more credit, even though we are broke. My head knows this is a good decision, but the girly side of me still protests. I want furniture!

The good news is that this summer we are going to start furnishing the rest of our home, and I will be able to decorate, slowly, the way that I want to. I would like to start posting some before and after shots, once I get started.

My gorgeous husband and I are both learning to be so disciplined with our money, something that neither one of us were in our twenties. It's tough, but good for character, ha ha!

Things were put into perspective, though, when my husband and I did a social justice challenge with our church a few months ago. We were challenged as a congregation to live as most of the world lives: on $3.00/day, or less. Doing this involved eating only rice and beans for a week. I will be honest: we didn't make it. I wrote about it here: Rice and Bean Challenge. There is a reason that Jesus talked so much about money. It's very important, and tough! It's hard to let go of our comforts, whatever those may be! 

^"For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul" Matthew 16:26

*Image courtesy of Flickr.com, by The Shopping Sherpa.