Am I the only one that loves the smell of something new? There’s just something about it. Maybe it’s the reminder that something new has not been previously tampered with or occupied. Or perhaps it’s the opportunity to have a fresh start.

Lately, I’ve been obsessed with browsing the web for houses currently for sale in my city. When I looked around our current home, which we’ve only lived in for three years, I could only see the things that were lacking. Turns out I wasn’t alone in those thoughts or feelings. My husband felt the same. Why couldn’t it be bigger? Why isn’t it functionally perfect for all the events we host? If ONLY we had a couple extra rooms. We NEED a new house! Off and on we would show each other a house that we thought could be “the one.” That’s it! We both thought that maybe the frustration we felt meant that we needed to have a house built so that we could customize it to suit our wildest dreams. The more we discussed the idea, the more excited we became until finally we decided we would pay this developing community a visit. We loaded up our two children into the car and drove to see the model home.

Walking through this new house was just as lovely as I imagined. The fresh new house smell all throughout. Open floor plan with plenty of room. Everything was updated and modern. My children marveled at the sight. Our daughter asked with excitement in her voice, “Mommy and daddy, is this our new house?” Even she was captivated by the idea. I placed my son on the floor to see how he would respond to the newness. Right away, he began to crawl around and explore. I stood back and watched as my children made themselves right at home. This was just perfect. I could see myself here. I could see us here!

And then we sat down with the agent. He asked us how we wanted to customize our home and with every detail, he clicked a box beside another dollar amount. The total cost was steadily rising. My husband and I looked at one another. It was obvious that we were both feeling a little uneasy, yet still holding on to hope that we could go for it. After crunching numbers and giving estimates, the conversation ended with us deciding not to move forward with a purchase. On the way home, it was silent. We were processing what had just taken place and something was taking place inside of us.

As we pulled up to our home and I looked up the little hill on which it stands, I felt such peace. You would think I would have sighed with disappointment because I was returning to something that wasn’t brand new with all the bells and whistles. Yet, I walked into my house and was overwhelmed with gratitude.

Looking around my house, I realized that I was so busy focusing my attention on what I didn’t have, that I failed to see the beauty in what God already provided. Not only do we have enough home for what we need, we have countless memories of how we’ve been able to share what we have with others.

We forgot that God called us to our neighborhood three years ago. Of all the houses we put an offer on, our current home did not become a bidding war. As a matter of fact, we were the first to inquire, the first and only to put in an offer, and the owners accepted right away! To leave now means missed opportunities to love and serve our neighbors, whom we have just begun to connect with. Our community needs to know the love of Jesus, and I believe we are on mission to share it here. There’s so much more to where we live than a new house with all the things.

With all that said, my husband and I decided to write a list of investments we could make in our current home to make it more functional and enjoyable for us and for guests. In a future post, I will show you one of our first undertakings. Curb appeal has always been important, so we decided to plant some azalea bushes with fresh mulch in our front yard to add some color to our home. We really had to work together on this one and I did end up calling my sister for tips because we had no clue what we were doing. But this project created a memory with my husband I will never forget.

Instead of delighting in a brand new home, I’m choosing to delight in the gift of a fresh start with the home we already have.