Living Contently

Can you believe how quickly the holidays are approaching?  Just the thought of it makes my heart race.  All the scheduled events, crazy shopping requests, and meal planning can be overwhelming.  When you looked at today’s picture of a basket, what was your first thought?  Did you immediately think about it being empty?  Or maybe you saw the potential to fill the basket and give it to someone?  In today’s blog, I want to talk about something we often overlook, how to live contently.  To understand what it means to live contently, let’s define what contently means.  Content means to be in a state of peaceful happiness.  Synonyms include pleased, fulfilled, tranquil, untroubled, serene, and grateful.  Think about it.  Are you pleased, fulfilled, untroubled, and grateful?  

Throughout the Bible, you will find scripture about living contently and hear about people who lived contently; being thankful, grateful, and blessed regardless of their situation.  In Hebrews 13:5, Paul tells us to let our conversation be without covetousness and to be content with such things as you have for God never leaves you nor forsakes you.  Covetousness is the intense desire to have things that others have or to always get the next new thing.  Covetousness and contentment cannot coexist because covetousness is always being in a state of wanting, while contentment is being grateful for what you already have.  Yes, I know that we all like to get new, pretty things, or travel to cool places.  And yes, we should all have vision and goals. But covetousness is the unrelenting desire to have something else when what you already have is enough and all that you really need. The pursuit of getting more than enough can totally consume you.  Getting something is all that you think about.  Developing a strategy or plan to get “it” can gobble up all your time, precious time that could be spent in a far more productive way.  And then, when you finally hold the thing you desired so strongly in your hands, you quickly realize that it wasn’t all that.  And then you find yourself quickly moving on to the next insane craving.

This season, take a moment to inventory your life.  Evaluate what you have already been blessed with.  And then look at your extra.  Could you survive without the extra?   Perhaps God blessed you with extra so you could bless others who may have need. 

For example, look in your closet.  Are there clothes, shoes, or coats that you do not wear?  Perhaps you had to wipe the dust off of an item to see what color it was.  Maybe there is a stack of clothes that you are thinking that you might lose a few pounds and get back into them.  Honey, the holidays are just around the corner, and you are not losing weight!  Pack those clothes up and gift them to someone who needs them.  Stock the thrift stores with your extra.  Donate items to a local children’s home. Just take the time to look around.  Someone is praying for their needs to be met and your extra could be God’s way of filling that need.

Next, look in the garage.  Are there things stuffed in cabinets that you have not used in the last 12 months?  Do you have duplicate tools?  Are there projects that you were planning to do, but never got around to it?  Pull those things out and donate them to a local ministry or the activity department at a local seniors home.  You may be shocked to find that there is a local beginning mechanic who has been praying for tools or the equipment that he needs to start his small business.  Be the blessing that he has been praying for.

In Timothy 6, Paul reminds us that godliness with contentment yields great gain.  We are brought into this world with nothing and one day, we will die and leave this world with exactly what we came into this world with, nothing.  During the meantime, God promises to provide all that we need, when we need it.  I can’t tell you how many times as a single parent raising three young boys that I prayed for a specific need and God provided for that need through one of His many angels here on earth.  Their extra filled my need.

As I get older, I have come to realize that as long as I have shelter, food, and clothing, I have all that I need. I don’t need more such and such or what-nots.  And when I am blessed with extra, I pay it forward knowing that someone else probably prayed to just have enough. 

During this holiday season, be mindful of the things that you and your family are doing and why you are doing them.  Purposely practice “living contently’ during the next couple of months.  Here are a few ideas with some personal challenges for you to consider.

First, the mixing of work, parties, dinners, and shopping can make November and December the most chaotic time of the year.  STOP and take a moment to think about the purpose for everything that is going on.  No matter how busy you are, you can only take one step at the time.  Look at your calendar.  Prioritize the things that mean most to you.  For example, visiting my elderly parents is at the top of my list.  I love listening to their stories about when they were first married, some of the funny things they did growing up, and how helping others always blessed them first.  Some of the stories I have heard many times but watching them tell the story with a sparkle in their eyes is priceless, every time they tell it.  I often ask them random questions about their life because one day, those memories will be all that I have left so I want to cherish every moment with them and every story they tell.  Challenge: Spend the afternoon with your parents.  If your parents have passed on to Heaven, find an elderly person to talk to.  Ask them the following questions:  1) What was their favorite childhood toy or game and why?  2) How did they meet their spouse?  3) What one piece of advice would they give you about living contently?       

Second, take inventory of what you have. Separate what you have from what you need.  Open closets, kitchen cabinets, and garage storage bins.  Sort through the duplicates and lay aside the extra.  Determine what you need from what is extra.  Challenge: Find someone or somewhere to donate those extra or unused items.  Remember, your extra or unused item(s) may be exactly what someone else is praying for.

Third, while you are booking all those appointments and activities, step back and look at each invitation.   You do not have to do everything or go everywhere.  Choose only those activities that build family and faith, inspiring others to be their best self.  As you begin to buy presents, give mercy, grace, and time instead.  Let me tell you a couple of stories about two gifts that changed my life forever.  When I was a little girl, I wrapped a tiny little box and placed it under the Christmas tree.  But before I wrapped it, I blew tons of kisses into the box.  No one had a clue what was in the box or who wrapped it.  Then on Christmas morning, when my family opened the box, they were surprised to see it was empty.  But in reality, it was packed full of love, the most precious gift I had to offer.

I also remember a gift that my middle son, Corey, gave one year as his white elephant gift at our family gathering.  Corey, an artist, carefully crafted a small box and placed a $25 gift card inside of it.  He spent a lot of time decorating the outside of the box, making it one of the simplest but prettiest gifts I had ever seen.  When the lucky person opened the box, they found a special note inside with the gift card.  The note instructed that the only way the gift could be used was to spend it on someone else who had a need.  (Insert tears here.)   Challenge: This year, instead of giving a gift that someone will probably return or re-gift, give them an experience to share with them, like going to the local deli and spending the afternoon together talking about old times.  Or perhaps you could give a gift in their honor to a charity or special cause.  Once my youngest son, Chris, gave me a ‘coupon book’ of experiences that we could share together.  When we had time, I would pull out a coupon out of his coupon book and off on an adventure we would go!  Gifts created with memories are the ones that last a lifetime.

And finally, if you are the one making the Christmas list, think about why you really ‘need’ that item on your list.  Afterall, you have lived without it until now.  What makes it so important now? Yes, it is okay to make a wish list, just do not go overboard if you already have all you need.  Consider whether those same funds could be gifted in a way to bless someone else.  Everyone gets stuff for Christmas, but not many get to experience blessing others instead.  Giving is truly more fulfilling than receiving.  And kids, if your elderly grandparents gift you something from a thrift store, appreciate it just like you would as if it were purchased at the mall.  Your grandparents live on a very fixed income and it may be that they skipped filling their medicine that month so they could buy you a Christmas gift.  Challenge: This year, find someone or a family that may not have what they need or one that does not have extra.  Provide them with a Christmas meal, toys for the kids, or maybe household things like Ziploc bags, Kleenex, toilet paper, or paper towels. Another idea could be doing household chores or yard work for an elderly person.  Just sitting on the porch talking with an elderly person will mean more to them than you will ever know.  Maybe there is a child who has never had anyone read them a book and you might be the first person to do so! You could also partner with someone to build a library sharing box for your neighborhood where you place books for other children to read.  When they finish reading a book, they can return it to the sharing box for others to read. 

“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom.  For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”  Luke 6:38

This Christmas, share the true story of Christmas and how Jesus is the reason we celebrate the season.  God gave us the greatest gift of all, His very own Son who died for our sins.  Through Him, we can have eternal life in Heaven.  In the meantime, intentionally practice living contently by enjoying the moments that you give to others!

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth ad rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  Matthew 6:19-21