I came home from a playdate the other day, and told my husband that the family who M was playing with had a servant. She took our coats and everything, I said, and unloaded the mom when she got home of all the stuff she was carrying in. She asked me if I wanted a beverage. Their house was spotless. So when I got home, I started whining that I wanted a servant too. And husband, Bible dork that he is, had to bust me on the fact that I do very much covet my neighbor's maidservant.

Damn. I thought I had that one under control.

We happen to go on playdates to houses that are much bigger than ours sometimes, since M goes to a school that is way out of price range but we get the "pastor rate" for. It's a great school and she has great friends, and I do really enjoy the moms who host these playdates. And their maidservants. But excuse me if it weirds me out a little bit that there's a servant there to take my coat when my house is, while not exactly squalor, not exactly not-squalor either.

I get embarassed about my house sometimes, but only in comparison to these other houses with the maidservants and such. If I don't compare it to anything, I love my house! I love how it's comfortable and how it's open, how the light hits my (dusty) kitchen, and as someone who moved 14 times before I was in high school, I love that it's mine. I worked on a shack one time for a family of six on a mission trip to Mexico one time, and whenever I'm tempted to think that my house just isn't enough, I remember that trip, and how grateful they were to be getting a bigger shack that had a tin roof, not cardboard, so the rain wouldn't leak in on them at night. But that little devilish voice gets me sometimes...the one that tells me my house isn't big enough, isn't nice enough, all of that.

According to this quiz, however, I'm not jealous at all! See if you are...

Not a Jealous Bone in Your Body

You're secure, trusting, and giving with friends and lovers And while you may have been hurt before, you've bounced back You're generally happy with your life - and no one's grass is greener than yours One word of caution: some may see your lack of jealousy as indifference!

Are You Jealous?