Contentment. A daily struggle. I wake up each morning and walk through my day with blinders on. I want to look forward. I am determined to make it through a week of midterms, a day with back-to-back classes, or ten hours at work. I know when I wake up each morning what I have to do to make it through each day. But does that really bring me contentment?
I am slowly learning, but nevertheless learning, that contentment comes with a heart of thankfulness. I was truly challenged when I started reading "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp. Most of the time I think of thankfulness as the "big things." However, this couldn't be farther from what the Father intended for us when it comes to having a thankful heart. For example, here in Tennessee it has been beautiful for the past couple of weeks. And I am so thankful that I got a glimpse of spring. I was able to ride around with my windows down and the wind whipping around my hair, as music blares in the background. Yes, that is something to be thankful for.
As I read this book, my view of thankfulness shifted one hundred percent. And honestly, I was shocked that I had never realized that every single good thing here on earth is a gift from my heavenly Father. A gift that not only makes me thank Him and invite Him into my day, but a gift that makes me content. Let me tell you a few of the things on my list that seem so menial and insignificant, but bring me satisfaction and a moment to draw closer to the Lord.
1. Walking behind the dorms and smelling the air filled with a fresh laundry scent from the output
2. Lemon water…seriously it is one of my favorite things to drink
3. Being smiled at by a random person walking around on campus
4. Burning a vanilla cookie candle
5. Coffee in the morning, piping hot with the perfect amount of creamer
6. A song on the radio that just makes you want to dance and sing at the top of your lungs
7. Holding my newborn cousin
Try it, y'all. Write down every moment today that peaks your happiness. Even if you don't think it is a huge "God moment." Trust me, it is. He loves to give us good gifts because they make us thankful. Read this verse from Proverbs 14:30, "A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones."
Think about it. You can't fill up a bucket of water with something else if it is already full. You have to dump out the water to fill it up with something else. Fill up your heart with thankfulness so there isn't any room for envy. Thankfulness empties you of envy.
Here's the challenge. Write down each moment that makes you satisfied, content. Write it down because it makes you consciously aware of the many gifts you have been given each day. It tunes your heart to sing the praises of the King. It doesn't leave any room for envy. When those feelings of envy sneak back in, pull out your list of things you are thankful for and trust that the Lord is providing even the littlest of moments each day for you to thank Him. You just have to look for them.
By the way, the sky is really blue today without any clouds in sight. That can be the first thing you write on your list if you live here in Nashville.
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