For the past few years, my husband and I have been dreaming…dreaming of our “grown-up” home in a nice neighborhood with a lovely yard and rooms for our children and eventual grandchildren. We even dream of a mudroom, a dishwasher (other than ourselves), and being able to decorate with lovely little aspects of holiday décor and flowers.

We dream of a taller vehicle for me that makes it easier to climb in and out of the vehicle with added leg room for our children in the future.

We dream of being out of debt and not having to be quite so strict on our budget challenge.

Then there are those days in which we are balancing our checkbooks with our dreams and goals, and we find ourselves overwhelmed by the attempt to even make the two balance…even just a little.

But these verses speak hope to me and remind me to be gracious to myself:

“Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil. Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred.” Vs 16-17

And I remember to be thankful for what I do have…a loving God who sent His own Son to fix a very broken relationship with His people and the example He gives, two people that take turns washing dishes and creatively trying to turn little spaces into multi-use spaces, a vehicle that continues to work ten years later and will likely never flip over for being too tall, and family and friends to celebrate the holidays and every day whether we have fine décor or not.