Hospitality, Friendship, Encouragement

Sunday, May 8, 2011

The other day, I was feeling sorry for myself.  I was reading a blog of a gal who obviously has a bigger budget than I do and she was showing her lovely back yard with a pergola over her patio, and two other outdoor sitting areas.  Sigh.  It was lovely - it was very me, and it was something that I could do design wise.  However, our budget doesn't allow for this kind of thing, it's just one of the realities of having other priorities for our one income.  

Imagine my surprise when my kids and my husband gave me a gift today of a gazebo for the deck!

 
 It went together very quickly and we enjoyed the beautiful weather without getting a sunburn.  I am excited to pull this area together.

The other day while I was feeling sorry for myself, I was convicted that I was communicating to my husband that what he provides wasn't good enough - that I wanted more!  I quickly made things right with him and the Lord.  I don't ever want my hard working husband to think that we don't have enough.  We do, in fact sometimes we have too much.


 As a wife and mother I hope that I am teaching my children by example to be grateful and to see their many blessings every day - even when it seems as if everyone else has more than you do.  It isn't true and even if it was, it doesn't matter.  We need to trust in God's provision for us that IT (His provision) is enough!


 I am so blessed everyday to live in a beautiful place, 


 with a beautiful granddaughter...


 with a fun Mom...


 some goofy kids...

Kyle and Sarah spent part of the afternoon playing with the box the gazebo came in...they had a blast!


I guess that maybe they are catching the lessons of simple joys...I hope so, I trust so.

What an awesome responsibility we have to train up the future generations.  May we have the wisdom we need to do the job well.

7 comments:

Rebecca said...

Rejoicing with you, Mrs. Rabe! What a thoughtful gift you received. You are SO right to be sensitive about the subtle messages our words may communicate. It sounds as though God "smiled" when you made it right with your husband....

I'll look forward to seeing more pictures of how you furnish/decorate your gazebo.

Katy said...

Oh how I hear you, Mrs Rabe! It's so easy to become discontent, isn't it? But we *really* do have much more than we ever need and each are so incredibly blessed, yes!? :) I hope you enjoyed your mother's day!

Warmly,
Katy

Anonymous said...

hmmm such a heartfelt and wonderfully convicting post, deanna. i'm thankful you shared about this very common mindset. while on the way home from taking my hubby to the airport *early* this morning, the Lord gave me a gem ::

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:14

you see, my heart was exhibiting an ungrateful spirit .. i'm basking in His loving exhortation and grace. :o) and your post, dear friend, blessed me even further.

love,
jAne at tickleberry farm

Bee said...

Oh..you will enjoy that deck so much more out of the heat!! We use ours alot. Carl likes to call our deck the verandah. He thinks it sounds more romantic. We sit out there on warm summer evenings. Sometimes he takes my hand and we dance in the driveway while he hummms a song. The neighbors and kids think we're crazy. I can't wait for summer!

Becky said...

I absolutely LOVE this post!! Thank you for being transparent and reminding me to be content with what I have. Enjoy your gazebo! :)

Mama to 12, so far said...

Oh, enjoy it! That was so sweet of them to get that for you.

Kelly said...

How exciting! It looks pretty. Duane and I were talking about some changes we would like to make with our deck and I mentioned an awning or something for sun protection as well. It will be a while before we can do more than talk about it, but that's okay. Like you, we have other priorities for our one income right now as well.

Happy Christmas Adam!

  We had a lovely Christmas service yesterday at church. Then we took the girls home, we came home and I made Monte Christo sandwiches for l...