Being Content

Confession: I have struggled with contentment and still do at times. Being content is so big and so important. I have struggled with this on and off my whole adult life. Not sure why..probably just a character flaw! I really am very blessed and I know this but there are sometimes that the need to buy more, want more, and get more has been to my detriment. John doesn't struggle with this as much. Our old TV is a big joke around here. We must talk about getting a new TV on a daily basis but it has become a symbol of our dis/contentment. We do not need a new TV...we want a new TV. We go back and forth...why do we want a new TV...to watch more TV so that we can spend more time doing something that we believe is silly and takes time away from our family....It really is a big joke to us now!!! Lately (probably over the past 6 months to a year)....I have grown in contentment! I don't know if it is being more aware of money/paying off debt/reading what Dave Ramsey says/figuring out my place in the world/getting down and dirty with my inner weaknesses/looking at my blessings/realizing life is so short/etc..etc. But I feel more and more content! I tell John all the time..."I love my home!" I don't feel the need to move, expand, or get more. Now, I do have my days...but I really feel like God is doing a work in me! I feel like we all struggle with things and have different convictions based on what our strengths and weaknesses are and I feel like God is doing a work in me where this is concerned! I love it and it actually makes me excited! I have to say that we have some friends that have more and less than we do and I have to say that recently I have been "Jealous" not of the friends that have more but of those friends that are content with less! Maybe I shouldn't use the word jealous but maybe admire instead....and not that these friends are poor and live in a mud hut but that they seem very content and happy to live exactly within their means! I love it when I see God strengthening me in an area or working on something or knocking me in the head with something...bring it on! I was cooking on the stove yesterday and the rain was hitting what I guess is the metal on the stove vent...I always hear the rain in the kitchen more due to the old vent we have above the stove and it made me think about my old vent (yellow in color) and I laughed because I love that sound when it rains! It's the little things sometimes right! When John and I are somewhere and we experience something better or new that we don't have...I usually ask him, "Are you jealous?" and he usually replies "No." It helps to have a partner to bounce your feelings off of....and truly, how can we be greedy and discontent when we look at what we do have...just holding Molly this morning and kissing her chubby cheeks makes me feel like a million bucks! Read these verses yesterday...Hebrews 13:5 and Philipians 4: 11-12. Good stuff!