goodbye tiny house...hello 2 bathrooms

Yes. You read right.
Our year in the tiny house has come to close and in the miraculous way
that only God can do, He opened the doors for us in this crazy Bay Area rental market,
to rent a home with 2 BATHROOMS.

This is more important than how many bedrooms it has. (3)
Or how cute the kitchen is. (stainless steel appliances)
Or how big the living room is (plenty big with a fireplace.)
Because it means that no one will be peeing in the backyard anymore.

Just to be clear, I never once in the whole year used the backyard as a potty.
(There were, however, some desperate moments where I considered it.)

When we were looking for a new place to live I posed the question to our boys,
"Is it more important to have 3 bedrooms or 2 bathrooms?"

A universal shriek went up, "2 BATHROOMS!"
There may have been a slight note of hysteria in some of the voices.
Our family starts calling out, "I get bathroom first!" miles away from reaching our home.

Some of your may be thinking, "Big deal. I have had 2 bathrooms for years."
or
"Calm down. I have a 3 1/2 baths. 2 bathrooms is nothing to brag about."

But those of you with 1 bathroom and multiple children know what I am talking about.
You know why my voice catches with tears when I say,
"Two bathrooms, guys....2 BATHROOMS!"

Bathrooms can set the tone of your day....or week.
We have over-users in the house. Bathroom hogs, so to speak.
Those who lollygag and dawdle.
The rest of the family suffers.
The over-users have sent a few folks sprinting to the bushes on more than one occasion.

Let me be clear.
2 bathrooms is extravagant living.
Just like having drinkable water, electricity and 3 squares a day.

I know this.
In my travels, I have used squatty potties, outhouses and on occasion, nature
as my bathroom.
Arriving back home, I was always overwhelmed by the beauty of a neatly tiled bath,
complete with sink and toilet.
2 toilets? OVER THE TOP LIVING, FOLKS!

Over 2 billion people in the world right now don't have basic sanitation.
Over 8 million still have to do their business out in the open.
And not because they are camping. Because they are surviving.
Disease is held at bay when plumbing is present.
Cities thrive when toilets arrive.
London, Paris and New York?
All giant plague-ridden cesspools before sanitation.
History tells the story. I am not lying.
Bathrooms have revolutionized our world.

There is a certain amount of entitlement that I have lived with for years.
For 11 years, we lived in a 4 bedroom 2 bath home.
This past year? A 2 bedroom 1 bath.
This small home has been a gift to us.
An eye opener. A blessing.
And a reminder of how easily I take for granted the extravagances of modern life.
Wi-Fi. Refrigeration. Central heating. Hot and cold running water. Transportation.

Blessing upon blessing upon blessing poured on me day after day.
And I can complain about having 1 toilet?
Forget about it.

I am determined to enter this new season with a open heart of thankfulness
about every good and perfect gift that the Father has continued to pour out on me.
Even toilets.
I don't want to live entitled. I want to live grateful.
He has given me so much...every day....and I have just taken it in....
like I deserve it.
Like a rich kid who doesn't recognize her Dad's generosity.
No more, folks.

Come February 1st...we will be living in luxury.
LUXURY!
And I am grateful.

If you come visit me, I will say, "Welcome to our new lovely home."

Followed by.
"Would you like to see our 2 bathrooms?"