'Contentment is not getting what
you want, but being satisfied with what you have'
This one liner has
been stuck in my head for more than a decade now. I was asked to make a poster
with these words for one the annual Navodaya youth camp in 2001, and have
remembered it ever since. Over the years, I've been learning more and more
about contentment. The more I choose to be content, the more I am at peace. Now
that I am a stay-at-home mommy, and my husband is the only person working, the
need to be content is more :) and trust me, it is rewarding. But there are
times when I do tend to sway by things and people around me, but God always
reminds me 1Timothy6:6-11 from the Bible. 6 But
godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought
nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing,
we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall
into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that
plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of
money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have
wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.11 But
you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness,
faith, love, endurance and gentleness.
I am writing this
post as reinforcement for myself about contentment. I recently came across a
beautiful saying on a blog that I accidentally came across; yeah yeah I do a
lot of 'accidental' reading. So the other day I started with a link on DIY and
ended up clicking away as usual, form one link to another, making sounds of
admiration and now and then. I love reading blogs on creative stuff, anything
from home decor to DIY. I am inspired by creativity, the ideas that some people
come up with are simply mind blowing.
"The understanding that
people are more important than things, the reminders about contentment, making
the best of where we are at while realizing that this life is only temporary.
So refreshing!" (Comment on the blog)
How
profound! Sometimes we simply start to feel inferior when we see some one's
accomplishments or things. I think it’s one way of not being content with
ourselves or what we have. We will never know how long and hard they had to
work, to be where they are now, or have what they have now.
Also,
when we are content, it gives us an opportunity to see how much more we have
and enjoy in life, when compared to the millions of people and children who die
every day due to starvation and lack of basic essentials in life.
God
Bless.
Children are a source of joy. Not just ours, but our nieces and nephews, neighbor's kids, friend's kids or those kids who travel in the bus with you. They all bring joy to us, even if its just 10 min bus ride. Children are the ideal human beings, they love, laugh, play, and sleep without worry. Talk about being brisk, when my son wakes up, he really wakes up, the moment he opens his eyes, he is up form the bed. All children are like that [or until they start school ;)] No lazying around in the bed and stretching or saying 5 more mins, unlike us grown ups :). Even Jesus says in the Bible that we need to be innocent like a child to enter His kingdom. 3And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Mathew 18:1-3. So let us thank God for the children in our lives, who teach us and give us joy each day.
Taking time to be thankful for who we are and what we have, makes us realize how rich we indeed are. And that's what God tells us to do so too in the Bible (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). 
30 Days of Thankfulness
