Alright…alright…I know what you really want to hear, so let's just get this out there. The randomly chosen winner (thank you, Random.org!) for the pair of BOG Farm Boots is none other than…
SUZY!!!!! And her winning comment: Gonna share this giveaway post…but I love your blog!!!!!
Suzy girl. Email me. Let's talk details. [email protected]
Thank you ALL for entering! As always, if I could ship a pair to each and every one of you, I would. But I only have $7 in my wallet right now. So that's that.
Now for more serious matters. Not that sweet farm boots and chicken poop aren't serious. You know what I'm sayin'. I got something on my mind, people.
Contentment.
Con-tent-ment: A state of happiness and satisfaction.
Do you feel it? At this very moment – do you feel content?
I want to. I pray for it all the time. Yet I still find myself longing for ‘what was'…'what isn't'…'what will be one day'.
Discontentment with our current situations leads me to do things like this:
Instead of accepting the fact that our rental house is not conducive to gardening, I choose to build a make-shift potato patch out of free pallets, top soil dug out from under some trees, and a few pieces of wire to hold it all together. I spent $2 on four pounds of potato seed, that I simply planted under a few inches of compost, soil, and leaves.
Will they grow? I have no idea.
Will we be in this house when it comes time to harvest? Beats me.
But in an effort to scratch at my discontented heart, I had to try.
How silly is that?
My long time readers know I had no intentions whatsoever of living in Alabama one year ago. Never in a million years could I, or would I, have chosen this for myself. But, as we all know, the Lord doesn't call us to be comfortable or complacent. He calls us to be faithful and trusting in His divine purpose.
My husband often reminds me that God doesn't have a ‘Plan B' for our lives. Each moment, we are on the ‘Plan A' He has chosen and designed for us. Even if it feels a little strained and messy at the time.
And thus, here we are.
This time of year, I always seem to specifically struggle with that danged contentment. Because, and I'll be honest here Lord, I don't feel content. And that, my friends, is an issue of the heart.
My mind tends to fast-forward to the next ‘big-thing' that I want to accomplish. Do you ever do that?
Maybe once we get our animals and garden. Maybe then I'll be content.
Maybe once we stop having to rent houses and can put our roots down somewhere. Maybe then I'll be content.
The small amount of wisdom I've acquired over the years, however, proves this isn't the case. True contentment is never found in the trivial and idolized things of this world. No chicken is going to bring me contentment if my heart is not focused on the only thing that can bring me true peace of heart – faith in Jesus Christ.
It's not about me, you see.
It's not about chickens. Or homesteads. Or gardens. Or even living close to family. Those aren't things we're entitled to and they're not what's most important.
Seeking His purpose is. Doing His work is. Loving Him and worshiping Him is. Glorifying Him amongst the rubble and hardships of this world is.
I found comfort being reminded last week in Sunday School, ‘This side of glory, it's just hard'.
Isn't that the truth?
This side of heaven, our hearts may never know true contentment. They are all too distracted with the folly of the world. Be it a job, relationship, hobby, lifestyle, dairy cow (ahem), etc.
But even with this discontentment that all too easily plagues my heart, there is great hope! This isn't where it ends!
We have new life in Christ! We have been redeemed! And we are slowly being healed.
Lest we forget, however, it's not an easy path. Quite the opposite. It's a blood bath. The Lord calls us out of our hobbit holes and into the broken world. He calls us to sacrifice the things that are most important to us. He calls us to lay down our idols and worship him. He calls us give up our dreams and our visions for our future and instead asks us to trust Him to provide what is best.
What is easiest? Hardly. But what is best, none-the-less.
Let it be known – I am a sinner. A very selfish one. A sinner who continues to struggle with the reality of these truths. A sinner who needs to remember that the Lord has a plan and purpose for all things. That He loves me. That He loves you. That He DOES have a plan for this ‘ol homestead – and that it's perfect.
And I have a great hope! A hope that one day I will return to Paradise, where discontented hearts are no longer. Where instead of looking inward, I will continually and forever look upward in adoration.
The unbroken and perfect Garden.
I to have struggled with contentment since my husband lost his job in 2007 we had to sell our house move cross country twice we rent an old run down Mennonite farm I struggle with contentment because if we hadn’t lost our home with the inground pool and the manicured lawns we would NEVER have discovered our LOVE for farming and yet we do not own our farm and even our rental farm is not where we want it and I pray about this constantly and I often look at the roughly embroidered picture I bought one day at one of my favorite craft stores ……it says Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want but the realization how how much you already have……….then I humbly thank God for his provisions and then like a persistent child I ask Him for my very own farm in New Hampshire 🙂
Ain’t nothin’ wrong with girlfriend askin’ for a farm in New Hampshire 🙂
wow I love the quote above… Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want but the realization how how much you already have” Boy did I need that one. Thanks.
The blog was very timely for me as I want and am eager to sell my home, downsize to the country, and be debt free with a little farmette. I don’t need a big house, just a little freedom. But I need to remember that I AM FREE…. I am free because of Christ. Thanks
Wow…timely. To share a bit…I’ve lost my faith. I was brought up Christian and held it very dear to me for my whole life. However, it slowly cooled…and I let it go slowly. 2012 was a TERRIBLE year for my family…everything from bankruptcy, daughter quitting college and getting pregnant, to an unfaithful husband..other this in there too. During this time, I’ve LOST my faith. I KNOW God exists…and I believe this in my heart. I feel so betrayed, however…How could HE let all this happen? HE was so much a part of my life for so long…how could HE abandon me? Of course, writing this now…seems silly doesn’t it? i dropped HIM…slowly…HE didn’t do anything…I let go. Anyway…I have NO idea what contentment is. I keep looking for it everywhere…exercise, nutrition, chickens, food saving…looking to get back to simplicity. maybe…the real simplicity I need to get back to is..God..how much simplier could i get.
Anyway…thanks for your simply words of wisdom.
Mary, thank you for sharing that. Your words ‘…the real simplicity I need to get back to is…God’ lead me to believe that unlike what you state at the beginning, you HAVEN’T lost your faith. To have a heart that seeks the Lord, even if it becomes preoccupied and luke-warm, is to have new life through Him! As scripture tells us, even though we can’t understand WHY these things happen, we can trust that God is using them for good. Always. For His divine purpose. I think it’s time for you to seek contentment in truly the only place your soul will find it – in a God that is perfect, is loving, is forgiving, and is eternal. The pains of this world will pass. Actually, everything in this world will pass. Don’t cling to your hardships, your past, or your struggles – have faith that one day we WILL see the other side of glory! I’d love to talk to you about this more and be praying for you – will you email me? [email protected]
You have so many perceptive and difficult things to say. I felt compelled to respond to your comment because these are questions that I have had to contemplate as well and they are not easy. As I was reading I couldn’t help but be overcome with the thought that you are feeling what you were created to feel when you lose the only thing that brings with it the hope of contentment. What you are feeling may also be the result of false notions or promises you were given about the Christian life. Part of our nature as humans is our need for a sense of purpose. You have demonstrated that, as you say, in looking for contentment everywhere. You have been trying to satisfy that need, as many of us do, with a pursuit of temporal and perishable things. But, and it seems you have already recognized this, your need extends beyond what this fleeting world can offer. Exercise, nutrition, chickens, and food saving are all good things and can bring temporary joy, but eventually bodies wear out, chickens get killed, food goes bad, and the number of our days reach their end. St. Augustine would say that only God is to be desired, everything else is to be used as a means to enjoy God. The fact is, you are created in the image of God which gives you ultimate purpose. This world is fallen bringing with it the pain and hardship which comes with losing a part of what we were created for, fellowship with our Creator. The good news is that we can be restored to that purpose through Christ. We wont experience the fullness of that in this life, which is why we still experience hardship, discontentment and disappointment. But those who put their faith in Christ have the hope that one day, on the other side of glory, we will be fully restored and fully content. Your conviction about these things I think is evidence that the hound of the Holy Spirit has your scent, and I wouldn’t be surprised if He hunts you down and drags you back.
I needed this today. Like, in an unbelievable way. Thank you.
I agree with Krista, I needed this today. Even though I am living on my dream farm, I still struggle with being content. There’s always that carrot that we’re trying to get and when we do get it, we aren’t satisfied. Lord bless you Shaye and I know He will give you contentment…in Him. That’s what matters most.
Always that next carrot. Ain’t that the truth.
My good friend and mentor calls this the ‘winter of discontent’ and we all suffer from it from time-to-time. The enemy of our souls uses it to distract us from the glorious riches God has placed right where we are! Thank you for sharing both the good and the ugly….’By my weakness, You are made strong!” Blessings to you!
Teresa–thisacreofdiamonds.blogspot.com
This post hit home for me….my little family is smack dab in the middle of nowhere with family far away, my hubby is in school, and I’ve started work from home. We rent this little ole house and I often dream of what could be, rather than look to what is. My heart is a work in progress, always has been always will be. Thank you for your words, I needed them today 🙂
I say you should not be confused with the instinct to become more self-sufficient as not being content. Be content but do not turn a blind eye to the instincts that are pushing your in this direction.
“Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.” – Thomas Jefferson