Skip to main content

Wind Storm


I have learned these past years – well, mostly months – that contentment is not what we ought to seek. To be set exactly as we are is not a helpful venture. We ought to be continuously growing, seeking out what God has for us. They say that change happens to everyone, I am quite sure I have said the exact thing; yet, when it happens to you…it does not seem to matter what others say. The terror is intense.

Sometimes, it takes a slap to the face to make a change, other times it takes a cross country move [I got both – within a very short period of time. To be fair, the move has been planned for a few months and it is something I have wanted to do and am enjoying fully; the slap in the face, however, wasn’t picked up by my peripheral vision and did leave a significant welt…]. The past few weeks have been packed with changes. I went from two jobs to zero, the frozen tundra to a town with “Beach” in the name, my family is halfway across the country, and my friend count has significantly decreased (distance does funny things sometimes, and when it doesn’t, hang out time is adversely effected…) I have never been more joyfully terrified in my life. Now is the time when I get to find out if I can ‘make’ it – whether I am ready to be a grown up or if I’m still just playing dress up. I did say it was joyful, and that is because I know that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. This state in which I now reside – physically, mentally, and relationally – is where I ought to be.

These past five years have been full of growth and challenges in ways I could have never dreamed. I have lost people I loved that I thought would be there forever, I gained friends I never thought I would have the pleasure of knowing, and I received wisdom not my own in areas covering the spectrum of life. The most exciting thing is the wisdom is still coming. It will never run out. There is never going to be a point I reach where, suddenly, I know everything. That’s where contentment can get in the way. We decide what we know is good enough, thus halting the search for more.

Comments

Ken K said…
Hey, I know I should read these more often . . . This is a GREAT post. A wise man once said this, "Contentment means that wherever you are, be ALL there." (Chuck Swindoll)

Actually I think Swindoll was talking about finding yourself in God's will. I take his statement to mean that God has great plans for your life - plans that just might surprise you - OK, He will almost certainly SHOCK you. The key to our contentment is knowing that NOTHING surprises God and that wherever we are is right where He wants us to be and He will use the circumstances of life to make us more like Jesus. So the key to being content is to give it your all wherever you find yourself, because this is where God has placed you for now . . . make sense????

Love ya Kiddo!

-Dad

Popular posts from this blog

On Still Moving

Any prayer requests? That’s how my lit prof always starts class. This morning I was thinking, wishing I were there right now to shoot up my hand. Yes! I have praise! Although, I have to admit, that isn’t how I woke up. It’s finals week. I was cranky and annoyed as well as emotionally drained from writing some pretty personal stories for my two thesis classes. Like normal I reached for my phone to check the time – up before my alarm yet again. This time I had a few text messages. One friend said some things I didn’t want to hear. Just like friends to share that sort of stuff we just have to hope it’s to benefit us, not to sting. I was in a fine mood as I walked out to get started on breakfast. Scrambled eggs would help get me out of that funk right? That’s what I was praying, anyway, just before I shared my news with my roommate as she headed out to class. I brought my computer out to listen to a sermon. Recently in a crisis of emotion I told anot...

A Journal, a Poem, and a Sermon.

God’s mercy is what is keeping me here right now. It is what has been molding me these past twenty years; and what will continue to mold me until He decides to call me home. But sometimes, it terrifies me. To know that I fall so short and yet, he loves me. I listened to a sermon tonight by Matt Chandler and he said, “What leads us to discipline? It’s love. The love of Christ compels us, it pushes us, it controls us…Why does the love of Christ compel you? Because you’re dead!” And something clicked in me.  This semester, God has been showing me that above all, He is merciful. Everything that He hands me is because of His mercy. Especially the sufferings I go through. If I were to have everything I want exactly how I want it, I would never know how much I need Jesus. My foundation of joy would be built on everything I have and all I have done. But seeing how quickly things and people I love can be taken away or placed out of reach, I know that nothing I have earned is mine to ...

One Fruit: Becoming the Monday Church

I’ve had a rather horrid realization: Just because someone already loves Jesus doesn’t mean I stop being a witness. The terrible part is I haven’t been living up to that. I tend to assume that my behavior around and toward my Christian friends can be different because “they know what I mean” or “they understand me” so much better than others or “they’ll forgive me.” More often than not all three are true. But what excuse is that? So often I am captured by how I feel and made slave to it by my own will. I hold on to how I feel and project it however I see fit. I don’t wait to see if it is beneficial. I just do it. Nike would be proud. Jesus isn’t. I heard my uncle talk about the churches in Kenya. They have this saying called the “Monday Church.” They say that to remind the Body of Christ that it isn’t just Sunday we are the bride of Christ but at all times in all things. I originally thought it was such a cool movement. Go Kenya! It hit me that I don’...