Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Contentment

What do Amish people have that we don't have? I'm not talking about the electricity, the running water, the vehicles or the clothing...nope...contentment. They live a life of simplicity and born out of the simplicity is the contentment like no other.

I am sitting here in my family room...all is quiet in the house, the kids are all either sleeping or reading quietly in their rooms. I am sitting on our oversized chair with my dirty feet propped up reading a book...and listening to the pond in the backyard. No...I don't have my ranch with 100 acres. I don't have horses. I don't have lots of room in my house.

What I do have: A beautiful home. An amazing family. A loving husband (no matter how much he drives me crazy, he is awesome!). A gorgeous flower garden. A swingset that makes my kids happy. Food. Clothing. Shelter. For just a few minutes today...I am sitting in complete and utter contentment. I can keep this going if I try hard enough. The worldly things are not what I want. I want God. I want Christ IN ME. I want peace that passes understanding. So right now, I am starting with contentment.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

WOW! You sound like me. All I can say is I have been where you are. Some people search a lifetime looking for this sort of happiness. It's a blessing! I LOVE hearing other people speak those words. I'm so happy for you! :-)

Anonymous said...

OH MY...YES! I LOVE Dave Ramsey. I've listened to him online for years. Keep it up. It takes time to "train" yourself to live below your means. For me, it was just to find hobbies other than shopping but once I had that one down I was on a roll. That's #1. :-)

Natasha said...

You are so right. It can be so easy (for me at least) to take things for granted and forget all my true blessings.

Anonymous said...

This is SO true! Thank you for encouraging us to refocus our hearts on what we DO have and to take on an attitude of gratitude!!

Peace!

(Oh, and we received the book yesterday!! Thank you!)