Want to share my inspiration!

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I’ve lived in my house for eight years. I’ve gone from disliking it to despising it. I’ve tried to be grateful (which I know I should be), but it hasn’t helped. I’ve tried to do little improvement projects, but I still hate it.

Yesterday, I decided to offer my disdain for my home in union with the suffering Jesus must have had living on this earth for thirty-three years. How dreary, how small, how ugly this material world must be compared to Heaven.

Now whenever, a wave of discontent comes over me, I am offering it for souls!

I’m so happy to hate my house!! I’m sure now that I’ve wasted eight years of disdain. I am sure that Jesus will keep me here for many years so I can make up for it!! Wouldn’t that be ironic? I don’t even mind. 🙂
 
Offering up my pain in union with Jesus has always been the advice of spiritual director. Not only offer it up but also embrace it. For the longest time (and still is) I was to offer up my pain for priests and now, since I quit smoking, I must offer up this pain for the sacrileges done against Jesus in theBlessed Sacrament.

Great spiritual director, eh??? I have had him for over 20 years. :cool:

Bishop Sheen also says not to waste suffering…

Thanks JMJ for sharing that! 🙂
 
what is it you hate about the house? location? size? color? you see what I am getting at, is it something that can be changed, or something that you simply have to put up with. If the latter, your way is very much the best. I am just so inspired always by they way you and Shoshana view these things.

for some reason I have had feelings similar to yours about every house we have ever had after a while, and have come to the conclusion your attitude is the healthiest. However, in my experience, changing whatever is most intolerable is essential to mental and spiritual health. I don’t think this applies to you, but I always found it was dissatisfaction with myself that was behind my dissatisfaction with my house (not to mention my failures as a housekeeper).

But if you can change something to make it better or healthier–take care of a mold problem, repaint to make it brighter, make repairs etc., you should do so, because that is just good stewardship. Similarly, if there is a way to make at least your bedroom or prayer room attractive and functional, you should do that, since that is so essential to your spiritual life. Also, you should make any changes that encourage and foster hospitality, because that is a virtue. For this I am going back the the Rule of St. Benedict.
 
After six years of dire poverty, illness and homelessness living wherever I could, the government allotted me a rental house, when I saw it I burst out crying it was such a dump…but then I reasoned how many people are homeless and sleep on the streets in all weather, the peoples at war with death and destruction all around them and yes The God Who Created Heaven and Earth an impoverished child in a manger and thus for love of me and all…and I dried my tears and thanked God for the house from my heart. That was 21 years ago…now it is a pretty little picture and I really dont know quite how it all happened.
We have so very much to be thankful for and often we can miss it…often perhaps we do not count our blessings until God withdraws them from one…and He Will return one hundredfold if we give an d especially if we give of what He asks generously and unselfishly.

Barb
 
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puzzleannie:
what is it you hate about the house? location? size? color? you see what I am getting at, is it something that can be changed, or something that you simply have to put up with. If the latter, your way is very much the best. I am just so inspired always by they way you and Shoshana view these things.

for some reason I have had feelings similar to yours about every house we have ever had after a while, and have come to the conclusion your attitude is the healthiest. However, in my experience, changing whatever is most intolerable is essential to mental and spiritual health. I don’t think this applies to you, but I always found it was dissatisfaction with myself that was behind my dissatisfaction with my house (not to mention my failures as a housekeeper).

But if you can change something to make it better or healthier–take care of a mold problem, repaint to make it brighter, make repairs etc., you should do so, because that is just good stewardship. Similarly, if there is a way to make at least your bedroom or prayer room attractive and functional, you should do that, since that is so essential to your spiritual life. Also, you should make any changes that encourage and foster hospitality, because that is a virtue. For this I am going back the the Rule of St. Benedict.
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I agree absolutely. Unfortunately, my biggest gripe is size and layout. Every wall is a support wall except one! So, we cannot change the layout without alot of extensive work there. And, to putting an addition on, we have considered it. However, we have come to the conclusion that it would be more financially prudent to buy a bigger house.

One big problem that I have is that I feel somewhat trapped. We own a house in a series adjacent to my dh’s two sibs and his parents. It might cause significant family upheaval to sell outside the family. Also, to move would deprive my kids of their grandparents’ frequent attention. Not to mention that we are only three minutes from our very good parish. Dh refuses to live in a subdivision (having grown up on a small farm), so to be able to afford a house in the country–we’d have to move way out. To lose our tightnet homeschooling community would be so hard.

A couple of years we were ready to move despite everything when my inlaws were just horrible to us about having our sixth child. We were laid off at the time, so we delayed a decision. When work had improved, things around here had too. I think that I still have scars from that time, so that has lessened my attachment to the area. We had a miscarriage last month and before we lost the baby, both of us were in great anxiety over his family’s reaction.

Isn’t this a long and ridiculous reply to a good suggestion to make the best of what you have! I’ll leave it so you can see how much thought I’ve wasted on trying to escape instead of bearing my little mostly self afflicted one.
 
ID LOVE TO OWN A HOUSE!!! ugly, small or old i want a house!
 
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melbourne_guy:
ID LOVE TO OWN A HOUSE!!! ugly, small or old i want a house!
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Yes, I try and try to be thankful for my little wore down house that most of the world would glory in!! I intend to be thankful. But, mostly I still don’t like it. Maybe by uniting my distaste for my house to the sufferings of Jesus due to the deprivation of Heaven, I will eventually gain a thankful heart. That would be good.

However, the bank is the true owner. We are just the occupants! 😃

I hope you get a house. Maybe you could have mine. How do you like humid summers and gloomy muddy/snowy winters? Nice people, though in Indiana.

By the way, the housing prices in Indiana are very reasonable compared to the rest of the country.
 
so part of the problem is the house itself, and part is, as the realtors say, location, location, location–that is, too near the relatives. Well, after 40 yrs of marriage I can attest you are probably not going to change the in-laws. I would have been out there in a flash, but you have to do what is best for your family. There is a good reason we always lived a minimum of 300 miles away from both families, probably why we are still married.
 
JMJ…so sorry I misunderstood your original post…I wish I could delete it! :o The fever must be getting to me!
 
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Shoshana:
JMJ…so sorry I misunderstood your original post…I wish I could delete it! :o The fever must be getting to me!
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Shoshana, I thought your post was excellent. 🙂

I hope you are feeling better
 
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puzzleannie:
so part of the problem is the house itself, and part is, as the realtors say, location, location, location–that is, too near the relatives. Well, after 40 yrs of marriage I can attest you are probably not going to change the in-laws. I would have been out there in a flash, but you have to do what is best for your family. There is a good reason we always lived a minimum of 300 miles away from both families, probably why we are still married.
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When it is good, it is very good. When it is bad, it is very bad.

It is hard to stay mad at people who love my kids so much!!!

I hope we move before we have another pregnancy, if it is in God’s will for us to have more children.
 
JMJ Theresa:
I’ve lived in my house for eight years. I’ve gone from disliking it to despising it. I’ve tried to be grateful (which I know I should be), but it hasn’t helped. I’ve tried to do little improvement projects, but I still hate it.

Yesterday, I decided to offer my disdain for my home in union with the suffering Jesus must have had living on this earth for thirty-three years. How dreary, how small, how ugly this material world must be compared to Heaven.

Now whenever, a wave of discontent comes over me, I am offering it for souls!

I’m so happy to hate my house!! I’m sure now that I’ve wasted eight years of disdain. I am sure that Jesus will keep me here for many years so I can make up for it!! Wouldn’t that be ironic? I don’t even mind. 🙂
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This is inspiring - and I must say that great minds think alike :rolleyes: because I, too, live in a house I don’t care for.

I have been praying for an opportunity to change this and just the other day, in a similar prayer, it hit me - that so many people have so much less than I do. Especially since Katrina hit…So now when I start to whine about my house I ask Jesus to take these feelings away from me and replace them with desire to pray for those who have no home, no family, no medical care, etc. And to be thankful for what I do have - a place to kick off my shoes and protect me from the elements.

So I am definitely going to remember your post when I pray about houses next time!!
 
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