When my husband and I were first married, we rented a run-down place that didn’t cost much. It certainly wasn’t a dream home.

Honestly, I was less than thrilled about renting in the first place. I expected that we would buy a house when we got married. That’s what my parents did. That’s what many people I went to high school with were doing.

But my husband and I were 21 and 22 when we got married, fresh out of college. We were still waiting for my husband to land his first teaching job, so we weren’t financially ready to own a home, nor did we know where he would be working, so putting down roots somewhere didn’t seem like the best option.

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We lived in that run-down apartment for three and a half years. Honestly, it was longer than I expected. I thought we would be there a year until we settled into this role of adulthood.

But in all that time, I barely hung any decorations on the walls. In my mind, that place was extremely temporary, and I didn’t want to go through the hassle of hanging pictures just to pack them up and move on. But looking back, I wish I had embraced that first apartment more than I did. I wish I had allowed myself to make it our home, not just where we lived.

I find that I do that in life. I don’t allow myself to get entirely comfortable where I’m at, especially when I’m in a situation that I want to be temporary. I don’t let the roots run deep because it seems like more work when it comes time to move on.

But it leaves me longing more and more for the next thing instead of being content with where I’m placed. It leaves me thinking the next season of life will be so much better than what is currently in front of me.

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Sweet friend, maybe you find yourself in a less-than-ideal house. That’s okay. Decorate it and make it your own. It’s okay if you hang everything on the wall and decide you will move next week. Enjoy where you are.

Sweet friend, maybe you find yourself in a season of life that is less than ideal. That’s okay. Embrace it and be fully present in this season because there’s a great purpose in it. Even if it’s not where you want to land, it’s not a waste. It’s part of your story; God can use it for incredible things.