Since we have been married Kristy and I have never had a big home. Our first was an apartment in Collierville that was a little over 800 square feet. From there we bought our first house in Middle Tennessee, which was a little over 1,200 square feet. At first that house seemed big enough, but we learned the longer we were there the smaller it became. That was especially true when Kenadie came along and two people’s junk quickly became three. Thus you might be able to sympathize with the fact that we are now (and temporarily I might add) renting a small two-bedroom house that is drastically smaller than our last. Much of our stuff would not even fit in the house and we had to find unique ways to store it. With our predicament then, you could imagine my shock this morning to read the story and take a video tour of a Manhattan woman’s home whose entire apartment measures 90 square feet. Now granted, she has two things going for her to make this work. She is single and she is a professional organizer. Both of those seem to be essentials to making a space smaller than most spare bedrooms your entire home. But as I listened to her tell her story you could tell there was no anxiety or desire to “upgrade” as soon as possible. It was quite obvious, rather, that she was content with what she had (and the $700 a month rent compared to the average $3,600 doesn’t hurt any either!).
It all really reminds me of Paul writing, “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content” (Philippians 4:11). Now I recognize that the context has much more in mind that mere material contentment, but that seems to be included in the general thought. Paul was, like Jesus, not concerned with an abundance of physical wealth. Neither had the luxury of such. However, they found contentment in what they had knowing it was what they needed.
Too many of us (myself included) bemoan the voids in our lives. I wonder, though, just how many of those voids are necessities of life or mere frivolous pursuits. Instead we should rejoice in our abundance. God has provided both for our physical needs (Matthew 6:33) as well as our spiritual (Ephesians 1:3). Anything in excess of those needs is simply icing on the cake. To many it may have just been a tiny apartment, but to me it looked like a pretty good picture of contentment.
-Andy Brewer