If you’ve ever scared yourself silly in a dark hallway or basement with a run-away-imagination, then you can imagine how quickly I escaped the make-shift bamboo out-house built over a snake infested pit.
Well, I never saw a snake, but in the dark of night in a remote Filipino village, all it took was a hint of a rumor of a snake for me to imagine movement in the hole beneath me.
Oh, the wonder of our marvelous minds!
We see what we look for...
We leisurely peruse the cut and paste sampling of Americana on the internet and begin to covet "the rich".
Comparison is the killer of contentment.
How is it that we, the top 1% of the world's wealthy, imagine ourselves "middle class"? If we zoom in on conveniently cropped lives, read their blogs and begin to feel like "have nots", maybe we should snag that card-board toilet-paper view-finder from the waste-basket and take a look around.
extra...
toilet paper
cotton balls, Q-tips
even extra flosser-thing-a-ma-jigs
open a cabinet; I don't even have to dig around to find wealth...
extra toothpaste
soap
medicine
glasses, contacts
We can Pinterest our if-only-I-was-rich-shopping-wish-list or view the same images and come away inspired with ideas to rearrange and creatively make the most of the things we already have to bless our family (or even come up with clever home-made gifts to give away... aaaah, gratitude with generosity).
We see what we want to see...
-----
Up until the 50's most American homes did not have complete plumbing with hot and cold water, a shower or tub, and a flush toilet, but I'm sure all those homes had curtains and a towel rack! I am deprived!
How ridiculous are the complaints of the discontent!
There was a time when my unfinished bathroom felt like a pit; yet when compared to the literal pits I used in the Philippines, my private-master-bath is anything but!
When discontentment was creeping up on me, I prayed. "Lord, I so want to hang a curtain in this bathroom. Would you help me? And, while You're at it, could You give me a towel rack?"
"Godliness with contentment is great gain."
(and, inspiration for creativity!)
I love this window. If we ever finish this bathroom, I want to leave this "ladder / curtain-rod / towel-rack" as a symbol of divine help and creative inspiration at a moment of weakness when I was tempted to complain and nag my husband.
-----
Comparison kills contentment,
but it also can kill complaining...
it all depends on what you choose to compare.
According to the United Nations, in 2006 it was estimated that 2.6 billion people lack basic sanitation. -- I am rich; all I lack nothing is a grateful heart!
So, tonight when I wash my face and brush my teeth over the tub, I will walk over to this window, dry my face, smile, and thank the Lord for these comforts and the many luxuries He has provided!
CONTENTMENT:
as things are
right here, right now…
with or without the curtain, with or without a sink,
with or without a job,
a husband, children, car, furniture, or whatever else we think we need/want...
wanting, enjoying, and being thankful for what already we have; yet not clutching and clinging on to anything with possessive and fearful greed
I want a mind that is preoccupied with gratitude for this moment and a heart that is so full of thankfulness that there is no room for jealousy or envy.
Well, I never saw a snake, but in the dark of night in a remote Filipino village, all it took was a hint of a rumor of a snake for me to imagine movement in the hole beneath me.
Oh, the wonder of our marvelous minds!
We see what we look for...
We leisurely peruse the cut and paste sampling of Americana on the internet and begin to covet "the rich".
Comparison is the killer of contentment.
How is it that we, the top 1% of the world's wealthy, imagine ourselves "middle class"? If we zoom in on conveniently cropped lives, read their blogs and begin to feel like "have nots", maybe we should snag that card-board toilet-paper view-finder from the waste-basket and take a look around.
extra...
open a cabinet; I don't even have to dig around to find wealth...
extra toothpaste
soap
medicine
We can Pinterest our if-only-I-was-rich-shopping-wish-list or view the same images and come away inspired with ideas to rearrange and creatively make the most of the things we already have to bless our family (or even come up with clever home-made gifts to give away... aaaah, gratitude with generosity).
We see what we want to see...
-----
Up until the 50's most American homes did not have complete plumbing with hot and cold water, a shower or tub, and a flush toilet, but I'm sure all those homes had curtains and a towel rack! I am deprived!
How ridiculous are the complaints of the discontent!
When discontentment was creeping up on me, I prayed. "Lord, I so want to hang a curtain in this bathroom. Would you help me? And, while You're at it, could You give me a towel rack?"
"Godliness with contentment is great gain."
(and, inspiration for creativity!)
I love this window. If we ever finish this bathroom, I want to leave this "ladder / curtain-rod / towel-rack" as a symbol of divine help and creative inspiration at a moment of weakness when I was tempted to complain and nag my husband.
-----
Comparison kills contentment,
but it also can kill complaining...
it all depends on what you choose to compare.
According to the United Nations, in 2006 it was estimated that 2.6 billion people lack basic sanitation. -- I am rich; all I lack nothing is a grateful heart!
So, tonight when I wash my face and brush my teeth over the tub, I will walk over to this window, dry my face, smile, and thank the Lord for these comforts and the many luxuries He has provided!
as things are
right here, right now…
with or without the curtain, with or without a sink,
with or without a job,
a husband, children, car, furniture, or whatever else we think we need/want...
wanting, enjoying, and being thankful for what already we have; yet not clutching and clinging on to anything with possessive and fearful greed
I want a mind that is preoccupied with gratitude for this moment and a heart that is so full of thankfulness that there is no room for jealousy or envy.
