Quite a mouthful and quite a title, huh? I've had SO much time to pray, think, ponder and ENJOY life since I've been here. As I'm sitting here on my last evening with my sister and brother-in-law I have much to reflect on. Life is made up of seasons in our lives. The season my sister and her husband are in is sweet....retirement. Living the "dream" after working hard all your life with a stable retirement coming in along with smart investments through their life. Life is fairly uncomplicated for the most part, made up of wonderful decisions to make each day about just how they will spend it. Even this morning, on a whim for my last day here, we drove up to Sugar Loaf Mountain (The one you see across from their home) and then did a little hiking. (That's the pictures you'll see here) How fun it was to just take off and go....no committments, no hassles, just easy decision making for yet another perfect day in this area. As absolutely WONDERFUL as it has been here, I'm thankful that some years ago, I finally realized something good, something deep, something immensely powerful in my Christian life. It truly is wonderful when life is full of "contentment" BUT....it has been ALL of the "calamity" and "chaos" in my life that has actually brought me to this place of "contentment!" Let me explain....I have realized and set my faith on things above, not the temporary things, but the eternal. I understand now when Paul talks about trials and tribulations (calamity & chaos) and how they WILL, CAN and DO work together to bring about the perfection of our faith. It is in the walking through those difficult times that brings us to the place that we realize that we can look back with "contentment" and see how God used every single situation for His glory and for the perfecting of our faith. And so, as I say goodbye to my precious sister and brother-in-law tomorrow and thank them and HIM for the "contentment" I've been able to absolutely enjoy while here, I thank Him also for the "calamity and chaos" that has made me who I am in Christ. It's because of the "calamity and chaos" that I can enjoy the "contentment" even more....if you get what I mean?!!! We cannot be content all the time as we wouldn't appreciate "contentment" in and of itself if we were. It's the tough stuff that makes us appreciate those sweet times of calm, peace and joy. We can look back and see how God brought us through.
Calamity, contentment & chaos....it's our choice how we decide to see each and every situation. I chose to be content, even in the midst of the struggles, cause that's where Christ desires for me to be. I thank Jesus for the memories I've made. Saying goodbye is hard but life "is still good." Thank you Lord, for my life, for my breath and for my family at home and here. You are so good to me God and I'm content. How about you?
1 comment:
Amen sista! Preach it! I so agree....In the eyes of my children, I lived through some hard times growing up, but I thank God for those hard times everyday. When I look at the world around me and people that truly have problems, my "hard times" were just a "drop in the bucket" so to speak. Yes, I too, am what I am because of chaos and calamity.
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