staying warmer

We are currently working through a family Bible study on contentment. I don’t think I realized just how many blessings we had until we no longer had them. It’s hard to be content on a regular basis anyway, but take on a project of a house a third of the size you’re used to and things get really discontent really fast. That’s not to say we don’t still have many blessings, they just look a lot different now.

We got the fireplace working (after many attempts and failures to fix our bargain grate heater). However, the days and nights continue to get colder and we are suddenly aware of just how inefficient the fireplace is. Every day we find a new place in the floor or walls that seems to be ushering the cold inside. From what we have seen so far, there is little to no insulation inside the walls and the crawlspace under the kitchen is attempting to freeze us out.

I mentioned previously that Superman loves saving money. I do too, but maybe we’re on different wavelengths with what that means [sigh]. Enter our Amish stove. When we bought the house, I asked that they leave the wood burning stove because you never know what the weather will be here, and I didn’t know what our timeline would be for getting a new furnace. We ended up not needing it…until now. Even though we have a gigantic tank of propane ready to go, Superman wants to use as little as possible, which means it’s time to test the Amish stove. Thankfully, the pipe was clean and ready to use.

Secretly, I was hoping we’d never use it. It is so big and swallows a large part of the living room, which for now doubles as our school room. Also, I knew that if Superman used it, he would love it, run the numbers on the money it would save, and that would give him all the ammo he needed to keep it. Discontentment struck when he fired it up and we started to thaw. Sure, I am glad it works and that we are warm. But this guy has a superpower to convince himself of anything, including that we should keep this monster.

Don’t mind the dust. I have given up trying to keep up with it. Wood burning heat comes with lots of dust and ashes.

Okay, it isn’t that bad. As with all things in life, there is an opportunity here to learn and grow. I need to be content with this mammoth, because we have what we need, which is all we are promised when we put our faith in the Lord. Nothing warms you up like the hope found in an almighty God who loves us, flaws and all.

For what it’s worth, Superman still contends it won’t stay, but we all just laugh and roll our eyes because we all know he loves it. If it does move out, we plan to still use it in our future farm shop, which will be amazing because the shop will be in an Amish built house. We can’t wait to see what the future holds!