THANK YOU!! I thoroughly enjoyed reading your thoughts & comments. My kitchen resembles yours in many ways. So long as the sink is empty and the counters are clear, I think it looks great. I’m going to perspectacle it too.

I love this post. We live in a society consumed by keeping up with the Joneses. Thanks for pointing out that we need to be grateful for what we have.

I love this! Thank you for posting it. Such a refreshing view and a great reminder.

Thank you! I think I need to wake up each day and put on my perspectacles! So many things we can look at differently and be thankful for!

We live in Manhattan in a one-bedroom apartment, our kitchen is 5.5′ x 5′, and we can cook and smooch as much as we need to in that gorgeous little space. I just got back from Kenya where kids are sitting on the side of the road begging for water of the passing tourists while here we POWER WASH THE SIDEWALK with what is surely drinkable tap water. Awesome post, thank you so much for saying this. It’s so nice to hear a mom express gratitude instead of “you can’t possibly have a baby in a one-bedroom apartment.” Keep up spreading the word!!

Kids dancing and hummus in the fridge! What an amazing kitchen! Reminds me of mine!

Beautiful — Thank you! I will NEVER forget those many months when my “kitchen” was a pile of rocks where I built a little fire every day, beside the tarp I lived under. I understand the profound truth that having clean running water inside my home is wealth beyond the dreams of 90 percent of the kings of history!

WOOO HOOOO!! YES! Sure, I’d like new cupboards, my linoleum is pretty worn. But, I have FOOD! And water… and, despite my near ‘poverty’ (by USA standards), so VERY much more than most of the rest of the world. And I am happy for the roof, the warmth, the driveway I can drive into after work, and say “I’m Home”. The dogs that rush out, the cats that pretend they don’t care until I sit down, the man I make a home for, and more.

Thank you for your perspectacles!
Wonderful article, thank you again!

You have so much more than me…true I am single…but since my mom’s illness and subsquent death last year that required me to my 4 trips to NM from IL I have worked two jobs up to eighty hours a week. I would love to have fresh food in my fridge. Theonly thing I have in my freezer right now is the two icepacks I use on my Achilles Tendonitis. I am thankful God is allowing me to keep going so I can pay my bills every payday. But that leaves about 1 tank of gas and $20-$25 dollars for food. Always, always be grateful it can ALWAYS be much worse.

Superb! However, you need new cupboard-door HANDLES. THEN you’ll have the perfect kitchen. Awesome article/journal entry! (Just get those handles changed. Ha ha!)

LOVE LOVE LOVE this kitchen blessing. Maintain this outlook and you are and will be surely a blessed momma!

Perspectacles… That was a BEAUTIFUL word for what we must see our life through. A dear college friends shared this with me this morning and I am so glad she did. Your kitchen is GORGEOUS! Well done!

I love, love, love this post! I am so tired of seeing all these trends that really don’t matter in the big picture. We are so blessed in America with modern conveniences and availability of shelter/water/food. Who cares what tiles are in a kitchen? Who cares if you’ve made self-expressed art or have a painting from Walmart (or nothing)? None of that even matters.

“Sometimes it seems that our entire economy is based on distracting women from their blessings.” – And YES! I couldn’t agree with this more. This is such a good read, I’m passing it around 🙂

Absolutely amazing! My family of 4 lives in a 576 sq. ft. house that we have built ourselves, and we have been living this way for two years. We have framing and roof up for two bedrooms, but they are slow in coming, because as I’ve said, we are building it ourselves. We moved from the city with 2 jobs, to a farm in the mountains to homeschool our boys and live a much simpler life. I was tired of “keeping up with the Jonses'” and so we jumped off the treadmill. This article came at a perfect time, and I so needed to read it!! Because lately I have forgotten the reasons for what we did, and have been feeling alot of INgratitude, looking at what we still don’t have instead of what we do. God has been amazingly generous and blessed us with so much, and I have not had the correct “perspectacles” lately. I THANK you for helping me to switch glasses!! God bless you and yours….

One of the most beautiful things I have ever read 🙂 Thank you…and my your kitchen floor always carry the scuff marks of dancing feet x

Truer words could not be written. I LOVED this post, and shared it with my mom and on the facebook page for my blog (rudeysroom). So much wasted energy is spent on keeping up on appearances instead of focusing on what’s most important – relationships. Thank you for this beautiful reminder of not letting the least important things get in the way of the most important things. It is so critical to give thanks for all of those blessings in our lives that may get pushed down in the daily grind. I thought of you when I opened my fridge this morning to pour cream in my hot cup of coffee as my little ones rested in their beds. The sun pouring on my face as I wrote in the quiet of my cozy house, feeling rested from the night before thanks to a full night of sleep. Thanks again for sharing these authentic words.

Someone told me once that I have a nice house. I replied, oh, no, it’s a dump! And then I went on a mission trip to Nicaragua and saw how many people live. It sure made me appreciate my “dump”!

This is very timely as I just started listening to Jen Hatmaker’s “7” on Audible. As an educated woman, I was shocked to learn how much I’ve been bamboozled by marketing. I aspire to use less and to purchase what I do use only if it supports a healthy job for someone else. Then I can use my extra to shore up those who need it. Thank you Jesus for this sweet life and for the freedom to make these choices. Please help me to do right. Amen.

yes!!!!!

Thank you. That is Fan-Freakin’-TASTIC. That made me want to climb on HotWheel and pretend to be that little kid in the last few minutes of “The Incredibles” who shouts “That… Was… TOTALLY WICKED!!!” Because you made me think happy things about my life AND yours. The magic bean machine… YES. The poor fronteir women with no refrigerators… YES. The dancing family in the kitchen… QUADRUPLE YES.

Here’s to wearing our perspectacles and nurturing our tendencies towards gratitude.

Thank you. I lost my perspectacles in the last few years as we have struggled financially, and longed for permanent, reliable work for my hubby. For a long time all I could do was look around and see what I wished I could change. But it’s time to make a choice. I choose gratitude and joy. Thank-you for being part of the journey that brings me back to a healthy mind and family.

Magnificence. Pure magnificence. It’s amazing how much difference a perspective change can make! I sometimes look at my house and all I can see is what’s wrong with it. Too small, too much stuff, rooms the wrong shape, can’t organise anything… I think I need to put my own perspectacles on more often and remember just how blessed we are!

Amen from my 80’s kitchen, in my 80’s house, with my blow up pool for my grandkids……….

I love your post. That’s me! Yes, I do have a dishwasher, but it was given to me! =) I am getting ready to ‘redo’ my kitchen, but it won’t be fancy! It won’t be the hottest trend! It’s going to be what I LIKE. We’re doing the work ourselves, so there’s going to be a phase one & phase two. It’s a little old country farm house, and it will still be a little old country farm house. I love my kitchen, even before it’s updated; and the main reason I love my kitchen is that it feeds my entire crew & menagerie – and it has the back door that leads to the barnyard! YOU have your priorities straight – keep writing – we need more like you who are grateful for all the wonderful things in life: OUR FAMILIES. Things never last, love does.

I so needed to read this right now…we recently moved into a MUCH smaller home and I have been agonizing over my kitchen that is so tiny compared with my last kitchen…I can now look at it and say I am grateful for what I have.

Am I the only one who thinks the kitchen looks fine the way it is, even without the lovely message that the family makes it beautiful? Kitchen remodels are extremely costly. Maybe the money, even for those who have it, would be better put to college funds for children or retirement savings for mom and dad.

I live in a 109-year-old house. It never will look new and modern, and it shouldn’t. I make needed repairs as they come up and keep it clean and neat with a great garden. I’d rather spend time I might use constantly decorating to play with my kids and work on homework. Guests seem to like the house. It is difficult to get them to leave. Like the author, I feel blessed with abundance.

G, you hit the nail on the head when you called out the “Producers of Stuff Need”. I’ll admit that I occasionally flip through women’s magazines to see what’s current in the way of cosmetics, fashion and hair but really there’s nothing much new to see—and so much of it is ridiculously expensive! If we see the Producers of Stuff Need for what they really are, we’d all see that they’re in the business of convincing we, the consumers, to give them our money by making us feel like what we have, who we are and what we look like just isn’t enough. It’s as if they’re hunters settings trap with all the right pictures and words so that they can get us to give them our money in exchange for the same kind of stuff that keeps repeating itself. Bangs are in! Bangs are out! High-waisted jeans… out! No, wait! They’re back in fashion! And I don’t know this for sure, but I’m pretty sure that every color of eyeshadow has already been invented and that the palette of “new” colors doesn’t really exist anymore.

Thank you for showing us all that it’s perfectly acceptable to NOT alter what we have or who we are just because of the social and economic pressure to do so.
Much love,
L

Your kitchen is terrific – why does it have to be updated?

It has happy lives inside of it.

Monday does not need to be spent on walls and floors (unless they are really in dire need of repair), it needs to be spent on people.

My kitchen mirrors your.. we too.. do not have a dishwasher and people look at me with crazed eyes. Thanks for the new perspectacles… we will be upgrading a tiny bit.. In the near future.. hut also with cash in hand. APPRECIATE YOUR THOUGHTS.. KEEP SHARING.. from TX. KJ

My kitchen is about a thousand times older and uglier and more falling apart than yours, and I rent so it’s not even truly “mine” so I understand fully your sense of insecurity when people started telling you how to “update” your kitchen- they are lucky lucky people to even have that option! But I totally love that you know how lucky you are too! In fact I would say you are by far the wealthier person because you know what truly matters. Our kitchens may not be “up to date’ but they are full of food and love, what else do you need? Well done, you are great.

Thank you so much! My home has just been updated by putting on perspectacles and I LOVE IT!!! I really needed to read this!

Loved reading this blog post and yay for dancing in the kitchen 🙂

Brilliant. Just Brilliant.

Do you know how much I needed to read this? I live in a wealthy northern town and we rent a modest house b/c buying one is out of our budget (750k+)
Our kitchen has brought me to tears on many days, mostly because I’ve always owned my own home and we have always fixed up the kitchen. While I loved some of that, I know the true reason besides personal vanity was to impress others.

That buy/reno process nearly bankrupted us when the economy turned and we lost a ton on the sale of that renovated house. We moved to a good school system and as I wrote before, are renting within our means and it has been an eye opener. I feel like I’ve made the right moves outwardly, but on the inside, I still care what others think. In the end, I miss out on the joy of dancing in the kitchen (while daydreaming about having a nicer one)

I am a work in process. Thank you for posting this. You have your head screwed on the right way, dear.

Beautiful, thanks!

Love your article thank you. So tempted to print it out and stick it on my kitchen wall for all those who gasp with horror a la The Scream, “What, you don’t have a dishwasher?!?!?, You have three children, how do you cope?….”

For dramatic effect, this is normally when I tell them that I don’t have a microwave either. Oooh, or a tumble dryer. Then I stand back as they edge away from me like i’m a crazy maniac.

In the not so distant past circumstances meant that some weeks I was scraping together meals from what was left in the fridge and hoping that the kids didn’t turn their noses up because there wasn’t much else going. Now I know that I’m lucky to have food in the cupboards and money in the bank to buy more. And, if you’ve looked around your town/area and seen more and more foodbanks and adverts for help feeding your family then, like me, you’ll realise that being able to feed your family from your kitchen – no matter how shabby or a la mode – is what makes you truly fortunate.

Sometimes our perspectibles get fogged with OPE (Other People Envy) so we just need to clean them with the hem of our t-shirt to be back in focus. Enjoyed this very much!

I just wrote a long comment about the way my mother brought us up, and it wasso very happy times, because our fridge was always full, and we didn’t have to keep up with the Maciejewski’s or the Miller’s. Everyone had the same refrigerators and we didn’t have a microwave till I got older. But we were thankful for everyday that we had dinner at 5:30 every night. Then we could go out and play after dishes were done. I’m so thankful for all that my mother provided for us. I’m so thankful that my children were happy, even though they went through some hard times, it made them stronger. They not ENTITLED, like most of the children of later years. I know they will teach others these things, because they had to live with so many interesting situations in their lives. I love them all, they are all beautiful, giving people, and I am so proud of them!

You could get a skilled craftsman round to do it up. This would make him/her very happy to be doing their chosen work, and when it was done I suggest your face would have a bigger smile on it. Perhaps you can use the funds from the free education.

I’m just as thankful as you, my mother, Jackie Kohley, did everything she could in order for us to have all the things we needed. Even if it wasn’t new, we were thankful, and we didn’t have to keep up with the Maciejewski’s or the Miller’s or anyone else on our block. We all had the same refrigerators, but we only got a microwave when I was older. I’m glad that our children were brought into this world a little younger, because they still realize what we had, and what they got!! They are not so ENTITLED. But, they are very thankful. I am happy you put this post for all to see. Thank you very much. Love to you and your family!

AWESOME post! And loads of people agree with you, considering the number of comments!!

Amen Sister! well said!

I intensely agree! I didn’t notice any men commenting. Do men have other perspectacles?

Best article ever! So often we get down because we can’t upgrade what we want. Yet they are wants and not needs. We have it so lucky but get complacent at that good fortune we allow silly things to get to us. Your article was fabulous!

A friendly tip to get the tile grout looking like new will only cost you some toilet cleaner (pref one with bleach) . Apply to grout in small sections at a time (I d row by row) and dipping tile grout brush into warm-hot water scrub the grout and watch how quickly your grout looks like new. Under no circumstances leave the cleaner on for more than a few minutes. It’s a case of apply to one row and quickly scrub and wash off. I did this in my bathroom and was thrilled how good it looked. I mopped a final time at the end to ensure all the floor was well rinsed.

This is wonderful, thank you.

Aren’t we all so very blessed and sometimes we don’t have the right attitude to enjoy what we do have! Love your perspective…you are so right!

Thanks for sharing, well said! 🙂

You go girl! What a great reminder of how we are so very blessed each day, we are able to afford things only some can dream of, and that we need remember this at all times! xoxoxo

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! Thank you.

I think I love you!! Thank you a million for this reminder!

Glennon, this is the first time I’ve read your blog but it certainly won’t be the last. My kitchen resembles yours. Smaller, but just as “lived in”. I’ve always felt guilty because it’s not modern and perfect. Now I appreciate it! Thank you so much for this inspirational message. Every blessing – from South Africa.

This post is absolutely AMAZING!! I will be following you from here on out!

You had me at the fridge!
Full of healthy food of a real cook.
Your family is very lucky to have you xoxox

Great Post! A great reminder for us all, so easy to long for “better” and “more” and not be grateful for what we have. Love the bit about your son saying the kitchen was for dancing.

Thank you for posting this, I also saw this on a friend’s facebook post and definitely needed to hear this today!!!! I feel that way all the time and am always searching for something new to buy which I cannot afford for sure. I will start looking at things in a different way and remember all that I have and be grateful for my family and start down grading what we have to less and more simple. I love your kitchen just the way it is, it’s perfect and definitely does not need any upgrades. I’m a fan of yours for life now!
Jess

You also need to be grateful that you have a brain that sees, feels, and appreciates those blessings! I would give ANYTHING to have that! ANYTHING. With the passing of Robin Williams it has made me more aware of the fact that I am not alone in suffering from depression. Please be thankful for your positive outlook because those of us who aren’t blessed with that WISH MORE THAN ANYTHING that we had it….including Robin Williams. His soul is now at peace…my thoughts are with his family who now only have his memories to comfort them. Glennon….your post is wonderful….and I couldn’t agree more about how fortunate Americans are to live in a world where luxuries seem like necessities… take care of your beautiful kitchen!

Great perspective I need to remember more often. You might really enjoy the book “Wanting More” by Mark D. Chamberlain. He discusses much of the similar message, only applying it to a number of aspects of life and how our culture is never satisfied. Made me wake up and realize how easy it is to get sucked into a culture of ingratitude. Thanks again for your words!

brilliant post… I would swap for your refrigerator any day, I always dreamt of having a dispenser one but living here so much of this is true, we don’t have water coming out the tap always and what does is not drinkable, my most precious item in my kitchen/lounge/office/dining room/meeting room is our water filter. Living overseas forces you to change perspective but LOVE that you realised and shared this with all of us. (missionary in Albania)

Ba BAM your kitchen IS full of beauty and health! So is mine… thanks for the reminder.

“Welcome to our home, we live here”. Love the ‘fridge art’

THIS is AWESOME
And then we move outside the kitchen to a car. An thing that gets me to and from with the turn of a key.
Having not had a vehicle for some years whole too ill to work full time I feel a rush of happy and thank you every time I turn that key. In fact every time I see the pretty red paint!!
Perspectacles ROCK

I agree! Thank you, thank you!!

Loved it! Single mom of 1, bought 1st home @ 25, I needed this … There is no such thing as the jones’s !!! Just live a happy life and be grateful to God for what we have!

Stupid post. I stayed up til 1 am on polyvore and finally convinced the husband I need new flats.

But seriously, beautiful message and even beautiful family. Makes me realize what I take for granted. And even now, I was thinking of the “updates” I want and I want to slap my self silly! Thank you for writing this.

I am so glad that I am not the only one that feels this way. My house is 38 years old and the only thing I have done is get new appliances and paint. I am so very blessed to have a roof over my head and running water. We are a very spoiled society that is always wanting more and comparing to others.

I never comment on this stuff…. EVER. This is a first and maybe the only one. And this May be the only post worth commenting on ever. Glad I read this, well said, beautiful family, this is what it’s all about. Gratitude, positive attitude, family and love. Thanks for reminding people, guess what fool you don’t need a granite countertop or a water feature in your front room, nor do I need the Michael Kors watch I’m wearing for that matter. Bringing it back to basics and it’s so great. Thanks y’all 🙂

I feel this way often but always when we return to the states coming from Zambia.

Thank you. If I coveted one more subway tiled-all white-plank floored-vintage cute kitchen, I might have turned (kitchen scale milk paint) green. Thank you for reminding me who I am.

Go Girl! I bought my little farm 9 years ago…moved to the country from my nice big, ‘new’ home after a divorce…my first home of MY own…no one to tell me I can’t paint it that color or put that there or…pretty much anything. I painted my bedroom dusty plum – just a yummy color and so relaxing. Actually, I painted the whole house when I first got it…something about ducks, geese and deer on the paneling in the living room inspired me 🙂 At first I wanted to make it into something as close to what I had before, wanted to replace appliances that didn’t need replacing so they all ‘looked good’, put in the stone countertops, you konw the drill…but the more I live in it, the more it ‘becomes’ me. It’s an unpretentious farm house…on a farm, with horses, cats, dogs, a yellow lovebird and me. As for the outside, about 6 months after I moved in I started painting 3′ squares on the FRONT, yep, the road side, of my garage looking for ‘the’ color. I found it, the perfect shade of dark sage green, just right for a little log-looking house on a hill. Off to the hardware store with the color name, bought 15 gallons of ‘theperfectgreenpaint’ and opened it up…guess I marked the wrong can! It looked something like week old pea soup, just gross! So, instead of buying more gallons of paint…or even returning that that I bought by my own mistake, I dumped it in Rubbermaid tubs and mixed it with other paint to be the primer coats and waited. (meantime, the front of my house could be identified in my small town by just saying ‘Oh, I live in the camoflage house on the hill’…everybody knew MY house!) My sister called me about 6 months later and said she had bought a can of paint for a craft project that she didn’t like and she’d save it for me the next time I came over. I scooted right on over (it’s a 40 mile drive each way) for that can of paint and opened it at her house and saw the darkest purple you ever saw – she wanted brown but this was not the right color for her project. I smiled, thanked her and drove home and promptly opened the can up and started back on square one on the front of my house….and loved it! So I moved to another spot – Oh, I like that better…so I took it to my paint store and bought another 15 gallons of paint in THAT color…yes, I painted my house essentially black! It’s a really really dark purple/brown, but it’s ME 🙂

Sorry for my wordiness…yours was a GREAT post, I’ll be watching for the next edition! Thank you,

Probably the best thing I have ever read on fb. I am currently trying to make some changes to me, because I have found that changing my surroundings will never change me. Only I can do that, and it must be from within. Your words and those of your supporters have given me the strength to continue with those changes that really do matter. Thank you!

Wow, perfect perspective and perfect timing! Thanks for the reminder!

such a great post. thank you.

I usually don’t comment on the things I read on the internet because most of it is trash. This however, was a breath of fresh air! I really appreciate your insight and
thank you for the laughs! Probably the best thing I’ve read all day.

“Sweet Jesus. Thank you, precious kitchen.”

I saw this on a friends facebook. I love this, and your perspective. Fantastic article, thanks for writing it.

Allie….

Amazing. Fantastic post. My kitchen is a little old and a little ugly and a little cluttered but EVERYthing happens there. And it’s beautiful.
Thankyou for sharing.
Ps- I have a miscellaneous stuff counter that looks exactly like yours. Feels good to have company… It won’t stay clean for longer than 10 seconds!

This is so true, enjoying the things God has already provided for you is better than wanting for new stuff. As Solomon , the wisest man says there is nothing new on earth.

WOW. Ok, WOW WOW DOUBLE WOW. You sucker punched me (in the best way possible!).
You said it. I heard it. I will not forget it. Too much pinterest, not enough being grateful. So very very grateful I read this.
Gratefully yours and sharing the word in Sydney, Australia

Wonderful, it is better to enjoy what you have rather than wanting more new stuff as Solomon, the wisest man said, there is nothing new on earth. Very good perspective.

You wear refreshing spectacles always. I love how you look at things. Okay…but…diet coke. You really need to renovate THAT. I was a diet COKE addict for years. What finally broke it was Iced Chai Tea Lattes. You must just try it! I started my new addiction at Starbucks with their brand. You can also get it at Publix. I can never go back now. Yay! Thank you for another lovely post, G.

You said your Lyme was in REMISSION??? I hate to change the subject, but know someone in her 20s who has been suffering from Lyme for years. It’s SO bleeping debilitating. Breaks my heart. I’ve known 3 people who contracted Lyme, but haven’t known any of them long enough to have heard word one about remission. Is it true? Can you get there from “here?” Any suggestions? I’d be so grateful for any insight. And Brava! for you. This blog is delightful, btw. Thanks for it.

Saw this on a friends FB page you and your kitchen seem more then perfect to me!

Just Lovely! I think everyone can relate to the beginning of this, and, hopefully, we all will come to relate to the rest. I remind myself of these FACTS everyday. The lives of our family members- old, young and inbetween- pass so quickly. Dance all you can!

Thanks so much for remembering and reminding us what is truly beautiful and worthy of gratitude. I live and work in Central Asia, where we do not have clean water coming from the tap, and many children die of water born disease. I’m in my home country at present, and have an internal celebration of thanksgiving every time I turn on the tap. Thanks for sharing your perspectacles!

I love this! What a wonderful refreshing encouragement! Preach it, Amen & Amen!!!!

Love! Something I have always truly believed in is being greatful for what you have! I do have to comment that your hubby is a good looking man! Haha

LOVE IT! Thanks so much! I needed that today. Keep up the good works!

You. Are. Refreshing.

Thank you.

Ok first of all, it’s sad that there are only 9 comments when you always have 1000 comments on your posts. Why don’t women relate or want to talk about this? I don’t get it. YOUR MESSAGE IS THE REAL THING. It’s God’s message, really, but you are a great messenger. I needed to be reminded of this lately when I felt like my clothes weren’t as cute as the next person’s or when my hair had some grays in it. Or when I felt like I was performing all the time in real life. I really needed to hear this today.

And I don’t think this is insane. I know we were all brought up (at least in my world) to shop and buy and try to stuff ourselves and our spaces full of STUFF. WHY. It took over our lives in high school and after, always trying to get all the stuff. No wonder most of us didn’t end up where we wanted to be. Even my high school valedictorian best friend ended up telling me that the most exciting thing about her new post-college job was being able to buy the clothes she wanted. WHAT THE HELL WORLD.

I enjoy the perspective and the idea that the “trend monster” is a distraction from women being able to do what they should be doing in their lives. We should explore this in a lot more detail. I have recently met a woman in my age range at work who is also not a fan of the trend monster, and it shocked me to realize that’s the first person I have met in years who agreed with me on the topic.

I wonder how many women are thinking about this right now? About what stuff they need? And using it as a distraction for something, consciously or unconsciously. How much money and time could we save without all that?

We could use what we save to further something greater. How many would be interested in that? I definitely would, if you start something, sign me up.

Thank you for being honest and not afraid to piss off retailers. And the entire idea that “we are enough right now” is something we should tell ourselves more often.

AMEN!

You are so right! We are so blessed. I love your posting.

I have never seen your column but I am in love with you! I think your kitchen is awesome. We never changed the wallpaper we inherited in the hallway of our old house. It had a sandpaper like texture and you could get scraped if you bumped into it. However, how could we take away the joy the kids got from throwing their underwear and socks on it and having them stick to the wall? One day they welcomed home daddy with a hallway wall full of socks and underwear. Ahh, now that is happiness!

Yes, yes, yes! As a child, our water was drawn with a hand pump. And, I’m not ancient. And, yes, I grew up in the Midwest, USA. The plumbing was a separate little building “out back.” I totally agree with your assessments. We need to appreciate the abundance we already possess, and not keep looking for more, more, more.

Wonderful words and great attitude. All that aside, I think your kitchen looks pretty damn updated to my eyes. Enjoy.

Thank you so much for this post. It is truly beautiful and just the reminder I needed today. Perspectacles. I am blessed to read this.

So so good, and so so crazy to read this right after my Instagram post!! Just finished a missions trip to Honduras, and, well, check it out…www.Instagram.com/Alliedawn
Thanks for posting this reality check!

Okay so I am in tears right now after reading this. You are an amazing woman with such an awesome perspective. The Lord has blessed you with ALL OF HIS RiCHES! Thanks for sharing from the bottom of your heart. My children are grown now and my kitchen is exactly the same way it was when they were 3 and 8. Now they are 24 and 19. I was so wanting to change my kitchen but now it doesn’t really matter – I have great memories and I still love my green and white stripes and hunter green counter tops. Thanks for reminding me how precious life is. Every woman should read this and you should share this at women retreats. I am passing this on!

It’s perfect!

Outstanding! I am getting a kitchen makeover but it is not because I’m wanting to be like anyone. My husband is doing all the work and it is his gift to us. I can’t imagine anyone saying something to you about your kitchen! Some kind of attitude! Yikes!
Love your attitude and may God bless you!

You are so rich and they are so lucky! Thank you for raising wonderful children with real perspective on life. They kiddos will not be shallow adults.

This is the best thing I have read and then thought about ALL day. Thanks.