Contentment and Simplicity

I have been learning a lot about contentment over the last couple of years. It's amazing how much we can take for granted and how much the simplest of things can bring us joy.
Years ago I thought I had learned this lesson in Belarus. I think I did to a large degree, but over time we forget. While I was there I was convicted and inspired by the joy that people had while having so mush 'less' than most Americans. Simple things like indoor toilets, hot water or a personal car were not common luxuries but the people were more hospitable, joyful and generous than most Americans that I've known.
More importantly, I learned that I could be happy without all of those things too. I didn't want to leave Belarus, probably because I had discovered genuine contentment.
The years passed by and I again became used to wanting more and more things. Most people, myself included, would call most of them necessities... bigger home, more clothes,microwave,cable.... I am not saying that it's wrong to have these or other things, just that it's wrong for our happiness to depend on it.
After going for 2 years without a home of our own I truly appreciate the one we used to have. The one that I often complained about and thought wasn't big enough.
Again I appreciate the small things, like keeping our own hours without being afraid it's bothering someone, cooking simple healthy meals in a clean kitchen, playing music as loudly as we want to or decorating the house for Christmas. There is a long list of things that I have missed very much that were often taken for granted!
So now, as we prepair to move into a bigger, nicer home than we had before, I am thinking of all the wonderful times we will have there and knowing that I won't take them for granted, hopefully ever.