March 2, 2009 @ 11:06 am | Filed under: Friends,The Solid Rock,Uniquely Me
Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of York;
And all the clouds that low’r'd upon our house in the deep bosom of the ocean buried.-Shakespeare
“The way we live our lives is a measure of our contentment toward God.” – borrowed from Jody @ Nitty Gritty
It was twenty years ago when a couple of friends and I attended our very first weekend ladies retreat. We packed our overnight bags, left our small children in capable, caring hands, and hit the highway for what we felt was some long-overdue, much-needed TLC for over-worked, under-paid, and (only slightly) out-dated moms.
The next three days were full of laughter, good food, new friends…I’m sure. But – to be honest – those are not the memories that have hung around the halls of my mind all these years.
Instead it is the resonating trills of one lone message that has withstood the test of time. Circumstances have changed. The toddlers of twenty years ago are now young men and women with lives of their own, and yet this message is one that shifts with changing times.
BE YE CONTENT.
Over and over and over, throughout this sermon, the message was clear. God’s plan for our lives is for us to find ourselves in Him, not wrapped up in things, or even in people. It is only in the shelter of His great arms and in the presence of His mighty strength that we are at our best.
BE YE CONTENT.
I remember the three of us chafing a bit as we squirmed in our seats and finally gave in to the tears that stung the back of our eyelids. We reached for wadded up Kleenex and dabbed at our eyes, realizing that our weekend was taking an unexpected turn.
We’d come for consolation, but were met face-to-face with conviction. It turned out to be a defining moment in each of our lives; one that changed each of us forever.
It seems like there’s a lot of talk these days about contentment. If there’s any good that has come, or will come, from the state of the economy, I believe it’s causing us to truly examine our priorities and values.
I’m finding that most folks are discovering the same thing that I am: I already have all that I need to live a rich and productive and fulfilling life.
What about you?
Are you finding this to be the winter of YOUR contentment?
I love the conversations I’ve had in email and chats with some of you about contentment! You’ve made me stop and think…a lot! This is a powerful topic.
Posted on March 4th, 2009 at 8:46 amOne of the sad facts of youth is that a lot of it is spend planning/anticipating/calculating/allocating our future rather than actually living IN the moment. Some people only wake up too late to the realization that they missed their present while planning for their future.
Learning to live in the moment and be the best spouse/parent/sister/daughter/friend and Child of God that we can be necessitates accepting and embracing who we are and what we have AT THIS MOMENT and leaving the future in His Competent Hands. He’s never let us down before — no reason to not trust Him with the future.
It IS a powerful topic!!
And BTW — it was only 19 years, but when you get to be ‘OUR’ age, “rounding up” gets to be a habit!!
Posted on March 5th, 2009 at 5:25 pm