Carpet Happiness (featuring Not Me! Monday)

Welcome to Not Me! Monday (ahem)! This blog carnival is hosted by MckMama. Please visit her blog!

I did not completely refuse to explain why my first Not Me! Monday is on a Tuesday, because I did not post my first Not Me! Monday blog on a Tuesday. First impressions are important, and that would be irresponsible.

I did not fail to tell my husband that the car I have been driving for over a year and half had no spare tire. So, when our front left tire was obliterated on Saturday, we did not have to call my brother-in-law to leave work to drive us to and from the Tire Store.

I did not eat 2 1/2 undercooked chicken wings without comment to spare my husband from feeling bad about grilling them. Gross!

And I did not beg my husband for carpet and then sit on the couch watching 48 Hours: Hard Evidence while he moved all of the furniture and laid the carpet down alone. I also did not pretend not to hear his request for a glass of water until commercial.

Mostly, I did not expect my new carpet to bring me eternal happiness...

I awoke to the sound of a strange tune playing through the speaker of my cell phone. Reaching over to my nightstand, I clicked my alarm off for the thousandth time. This time, I decided to climb out of bed. Propping my head up, as that seems to be the only logical way to maintain my alertness long enough to avoid the urge to go back to sleep, I mustered up the courage to step out of bed onto the floor…the cold, linoleum floor. That’s right. For nine months I suffered with a linoleum bedroom.

Oh, I had begged and begged to budget money to buy a carpet remnant, but this was the room my husband slept in for years, there was no need to change “good enough”. I just wanted the warm goodness of my carpet! I’ve never lived in a house with no carpet! I tried not to complain too much, as we are staying with Paul’s father for a very low price, and the basement apartment is more than big enough for us, but I had convinced myself that all I needed to be eternally happy was that carpet…Sound familiar?

Have you ever convinced yourself that some trivial thing can bring your happiness? Only to get the carpet home, and despite the great price, the fact that it was bigger than you thought it was, and that your husband admits your brilliance in asking for it, that you are still cranky and too tired to enjoy it? And by the time you awake the next morning, you’ve already taken it for granted? Carpet didn’t change my life…surprising as that may sound.

What was I thinking? If college didn’t change my life, and marriage didn’t end all of life’s trials, and getting a job didn’t bring happiness, then why did I think carpet would?? The truth is, that’s the nature of Jenn, constantly searching for some easy thing to permanently change my world for the better. The funny thing is that I’ve already found the one Thing that will change my life forever, or rather Person.

Despite the fact that the Holy Spirit is living in my heart, Christ is interceding for me, and I have a direct connection to the God of Heaven, I have managed to lose sight of His goodness. How could I be so blind? I won’t lie and say that I’ve found contentment in where He has placed me, but I will say that I now realize the folly of my ways and am one step closer to a heart realization.