sorry no pictures today, just words.
i know i have blogged about contentment before, but it just keeps coming back. is that a sign? or perhaps a nudge that i should be working what contentment looks like in my life?
i would say there is a good chance.
God chooses to speak, but do we listen? it's hard isn't it.
so definition...
merriam-webster online tells me that contented means:
feeling or showing satisfaction with one's possessions, status, or situation.
consider the following:
i have more than enough things.
i am a) happily married to a great man,
b) joyfully (almost always) mothering a sweet baby girl,
c) blissfully enjoying the summer benefits of being a teacher and teaching itself, and
d) blessedly surrounded by loving, ecouraging, and faithful family and friends.
i live in a safe home with many comforts (thankful for air conditioning today!).
i have a Savior who was willing to die just for me (and just for you) so that i could know Him and be redeemed.
i will be enjoying a lemon-blueberry cupcake this evening (considering they are still in supply when i hit the cupcake place!).
i have reached a point in my life that i think i know who i am and am happy with the person i see.
now, consider this:
i think i need more. more stuff, more happiness, more blessings. why is that? ugh. it's super frustrating to battle with knowing the difference between a want and a need. there are people who NEED. and then there is me, i WANT. hello, there big difference.
i have been doing a Bible study with a friend along with her sister and her blog. we are diggining into the book of Genesis to better understand God's redemptive plan and how Jesus is necessary and evident in the Old Testament. it is pretty interesting so far.
but as we were doing this, i got distracted by (or guided to) a bit about Eve. you know the gal, she ate the forbidden fruit and blammed it on the serpent. so what was her motivation for eating it you ask? she had everything (she walked literally with God). the only thing she didn't have was the fruit of one specific tree. and she chose to focus on that one thing instead of the WORLD she had just received. in the footnotes of my study Bible it says, "Eve shifted her focus from all that God had done and given to the one thing that he withheld."
that statement stopped me in my tracks.
boom.
contentment.
it's about a shift in focus.
it's a tricky world out there. but isn't that the point? we can't get caught up in the world. we must get caught up in Jesus.
what's your focus on today?