a theology of consumption

my wife and i are searching for our first home. with the expectation of our twins arriving sometime in august or september, we need more space than our current situation gives us. buying a new home has brought up a lot of considerations we had not previously thought of, mainly because we have not had them be of imminent concern.

one of the pressing issues at stake for me is what is enough house? what amount of space do we need, and how much are we willing to spend to procure that space? we have gone back and forth as we have been on a tour of homes and neighborhoods. some we think are way overpriced, others no character, some verging on too small, and yet more, wondering if we could make the amount of space work.

another issue at stake is what we want in a house. we know we spend a good amount of time in the kitchen, and eating meals with other people is important to us both communally and theologically. so that is one area that we really look to see what things are like and whether or not we feel we could make it work. we jokingly always told people that we would need a double vanity in our bathroom since we always seem to be bumping into one another at the sink in the morning or any other time that we are getting ready together. but it has struck me that this is perhaps one of the joys of not having a lot of space: that we would have to make sacrifices and compromises for one another. having a lot of space to spread our stuff out on seems great on the surface, but it also simply seems to be a way to separate ourselves, if only in the smallest of senses.

all of these issues and questions are issues of consumption. we live in a country besieged by consumption of all things material. if it isn't one thing that we are coveting after it is the next best thing to that thing, and i have to ask myself when it stops. consuming less takes intentional action on the part of the consumer. maybe one place to start is at the base of what we have built our culture on: the place we call home.