Content With Circumstances

Wow! Chapter 2 of this book really hit home. I think that means that I'm on the right track and that there is a reason, I chose this book of the many I could have chosen. I believe God knew exactly what I needed to read.

Dillow starts out by giving this elaborate exciting information about her life in Hong Kong. She lists all the exciting things and things she loved about it. The next paragraph is the flip side...all the reasons why she didn't love Hong Kong. It's very easy to see how the Prescription for Contentment that I mentioned in my last post play into her Hong Kong experience. Each day she had a choice to think positively about her life there or to think negatively.

I suppose that is true in our lives as well. Not just with where we live, but with how we live and what our circumstances are. For us, the biggest circumstance that we are facing is our struggle with infertility. It's not something we chose or would ever wish to choose, but it is ours. I want to be positive, but let's face it, there doesn't seem to be many positive things to say about suffering through the many doctors appts, tests, negative tests, etc.

It takes practice. Contentment.. positive versus negative thinking is not something that's going to happen overnight. There are four things that Dillow suggests we can do to practice contentment.

1) Choose to give our anxieties to God. To me, that means all my fears about the future and what it may or may not hold I need to consciously choose to give them to Him.

2) Choose to pray specifically. I used to think that since God knows all things, I could just speak to him generally about my desires. Bottom line though, is that He wants us to speak to him specifically. He is our father and there's nothing He wants more than to have us share our deepest desires with him.

3) Choose to be thankful. Regardless of what I have or don't have... I have so much to be thankful for. He has given me life. Yes, I may have struggles, but take heart, he has overcome them! (John 16:33)

4) Choose to dwell on the positive. Enough said... ALWAYS be positive, NEVER allow yourself to complain about ANYTHING! I'm gonna need God's strength for that one!


You may think of this as a pretty boring post. There are no nitty gritty details about our next test, ultrasound, meds update, etc. What you read instead is something that I am be challenged with. God has allowed us to join the ranks of the infertile. It would be very, very easy to look at it as a curse, and I will admit there are days that I do. In this moment, though, I am overwhelmed with thankfulness for God allowing us to bear the burden, because through the struggle, I am growing more and more in love with my Savior. Through the struggle I am learning more and more about what it means to be a Christian inside and out. And through the struggle, I am falling more and more in love with my Husband... the one I laugh with, live for, love!

Praise God, Praise God, Praise God... for His perfect plan for our lives!