On a two week trip to visit family, we usually end up being bounced from house to house to spend time with each family group.
It is wonderful, and exhausting, and really very interesting to see how everyone does things differently.
But each year when we make this trip, I have the same struggle.
I compare.
I notice the fall decorations and wish pumpkins and corn grew in Alaska.
I see a big house with stylish decor and feel as though my little cabin kitchen is very rustic and small.
And the flowers some people can grow absolutely blow me away – me who could not get anything to grow this year except one small clump of pansies which the goat happily ate at the first opportunity.
Each time that I compare I find myself feeling smaller, less than, depressed about my life.
This year has been no different, and yet I knew what the struggle would be, and so I’ve been asking God to help me remember the good things I’ve been given.
I see the houses and remember how cozy our cabin gets on those cold evenings when there’s a fire crackling in the woodstove and Andy is wrestling with the children on the floor. Laughter and love.
I see the beautiful decorations and remember the interlocked hearts Andy carved for me. They are meaningful.
I see the magnificent flowerbeds and remember the orchid on my windowsill. Given with love.
Walks along the beach. Coffee with Andy before the children wake up. The mountains across the inlet. The joy of a tidy cabin at the end of the day.
Each time I remember the gifts God has given to me, I can be happy for what He has given to others without feeling envious.
I was blessed by this blog post=) I can relate to this struggle, and I like your thoughts on overcoming this. 😉
I can relate very well with what you wrote! My challenge more recently, as my children are growing older, is to try to convey that spirit of gratitude to them. They see their friends getting things that they can’t have…. so, how do I get them to see that they are so abundantly blessed? My own attitude about my possessions (or lack there of) plays a big part in this. And yes, we’ve already asked them…so, would you rather have a 4 wheeler or your baby brother…we’re investing in children, not things! (=
We haven’t hit that stage yet. Thanks for the insight! 👌
My heart echoed amen over and over while reading this. I have been there. every. step. Felt the feelings of seeing others prosperous lives while my own felt like so much less. Felt the unfairness. It was so much so that i almost dreaded making a states trip knowing the battles i would face. But God keeps working on me and has shown me over and over that He wants me be to be content. I cant say i dont struggle anymore cuz i still do sometimes but the more i practice being thankful the easier it has become to see that i have so much, much more then many people in the world. So much so that yes, i wonder how can it be that i have so many blessings when so many people are truly suffering and in dire need.
I appreciate your honesty and your Christian attitude in what you wrote!
Let us all Shine – you in your small corner and i in mine! 🙂
Thank you for sharing, Dorcas! I have often felt too as though I have too much when I see the way some of our neighbors live. There’s a balance and I’m slowly learning it for my life.
Really appreciated your honesty! I can totally identify with the comparison struggle! Isn’t it amazing how effectively gratitude kills envy?
It really works for me! Plus I like my life a lot more when I am thanking God for my blessings.