Look at All the Pretty Colors

Some of you have wanted to know what our house was like and we were trying to come up with the best way to explain it. The best way to explain it is to say, “it’s like glorified camping.” For real.

Have you ever been camping? Do you remember what you feel like when you’re camping? If not, here’s a brief overview of some of the experiences you’ll have in case you’ve forgotten or you’ve never been. And I’m not talking about camping out in some kind of super-high-tech RV either... I’m talking about camping in a tent or cabin. So, here we go:

- You’re in awe of the beauty in nature that surrounds you

- Wildlife is everywhere

- The air is fresher

- There isn’t any TV

- There isn’t internet

- There’s no a/c or heat

- You can actually hear yourself think

- You are living with every insect imaginable... inside

- No matter how long you take a shower (usually cold) you never feel clean

- Even though the family takes their shoes off before they come inside, the floor is always dirty

- You feel hungry even though you just ate (probably because you’re walking 1,000 miles a day)

- You wake up feeling damp in the morning because somehow the morning dew is inside of the house as well as outside (the fact that we literally live in the clouds probably has something to do with this)

- Everything takes 10x longer to do (i.e. cooking, washing clothes, getting groceries, etc.)

- Having a minimum of 75 bug bites all over your body is normal

- You keep asking the question, “what’s that smell?”

I could go on and on but i’ll stop before I make myself depressed. MJ and I were talking about our house earlier today and making fun of it, actually. We were saying, “look at all the pretty colors” because the outside of our house is a purplish color and we counted 11 different wall and ceiling colors inside and none of them would ever be a color we would pick. All the walls have holes in them going to the outside (which is awesome if you like bugs, bats, owls, snakes, rats and frogs). There’s netting installed along the whole house, where the roof meets the walls, in an effort to keep everything non-human out. And it’s not big... only about 1,200 sq. ft. (remember we have 9 people living here) and the house is very primitive.

But in spite of all the imperfections we’re thankful. Not because we’re “super-spiritual” or anything like that. And we’re not thankful because it’s all we want. We’re thankful because it’s all we need. I’m 46 years old and my whole life it seems like I’ve always pursued what I “wanted” rather than what I “needed.” It’‘s like we’re always in pursuit of the next thing that’s a step above what we already have. Not because we need it, but because we want it. I’m tired of living that way. I want contentment. And not because we have the “mack-daddy” house (which we don’t, lol!), but because God has blessed us with a house. And who am I to criticize what God’s blessed us with? When I look around at what most of the other people are living in here on the mountain it brings everything back into perspective though. A lot of them have dirt floors, no windows, animals walking in and out, no hot water and some with no clean water at all, very dirty and unsanitary living conditions... it’s heartbreaking. Especially when you see the beautiful children that are living in them. But the weird thing is that if you look closely at the children, they’re happy. They don’t even realize they don’t have the _________. They’re content. It’s like somehow they’ve been insulated from materialism and the pursuit of stuff. That’s what I want. Not that I don’t like stuff that’s comfortable or that I won’t ever buy the newest electronic gadget when it comes out... no. I just want to be content with what we have. I mean, the place we’re living in is absolutely beautiful. Just look at the pictures. That being said, why do we focus on our house being less than what we want and totally miss the fact that where the house is, is in one of the most beautiful places on earth? If I was God, I’d smack me. Lord, forgive us for complaining about our house and help me to appreciate all the good you’ve blessed us with and help me be content (even with the myriad of colors it’s painted).

Weird blog, I know... sorry. Just needed to write out what I’m feeling. It helps me process what God’s doing on the inside of me.

Still Learning,

Jim