Contentment 101

A while back my Facebook (yes, I'm one of those) status read " I've decided God is trying to teach me contentment. I don't want a baby... what I want, what I need is contentment. Because if I'm not content with Him now, even when He blesses us with a child, I will be discontent in something else. I'm praying that I learn to be content, no matter where I am or what I'm doing."

Well, the time has come. I found a deal at Parable on a book for next to nothing about Contentment. It's called "A Woman's Guide to Finding Contentment. Calm My Anxious Heart" by Linda Dillow. I've never read or heard of her before, but I've started reading this book and I think what she has to say is quite relevant to any woman's life. I have decided that it would be good for me to post what I'm learning in hopes of helping someone else find contentment as well. Although, I don't think it's something that is simply hiding away and we have to find it... I think contentment is something we learn.

Chapter 1- My Journey to Contentment
I've learned that contentment is something that is hard to learn. It is a daily conscious effort to think positively rather than negatively. Before beginning this book, I always thought of myself as a pretty positive person. After thinking through some of the examples that Dillow gives, though, I would say I'm not as positive as I should be. In fact, there isn't a day that goes by that I'm not thinking negatively about something. Right now, for instance, I am thinking "I wish Jessi would be content (ha, ha, I'm wishing contentment even for her) for just a little bit longer so I could finish this post." That could be seen as negative... instead should be thankful that she has done as well as she has today and enjoying every second I have to spend with her.

Dillow suggests a prescription for contentment compiled into 5 little steps. Obviously many more could be added, but I think that this covers the general idea for all those specifics.

1) Never allow yourself to complain about anything... not even the weather.

2) Never picture yourself in any other circumstances or someplace else.

3) Never compare your lot with another's.

4) Never allow yourself to wish this or that had been otherwise.

5) Never dwell on tomorrow... remember that (tomorrow) is God's not ours.

I guess that pretty well wraps it up, huh? I've adapted my own personal prescription for contentment based on what I struggle with daily..

1) Never allow myself to complain about anything... not even being so busy sometimes I can barely breathe.

2) Never picture myself as a fertile woman instead of an infertile woman. Or picture my life if I were still living closer to my family instead of miles away where I sometimes feel forgotten.

3) Never look at all those pregnant bellies and think for one minute about how they do or do not deserve the miracle they are experiencing.

4)Never wish that we had been able to get pregnant right away. God has a plan for His timing and it is perfect... what's best for us.

5)Never worry about what will or will not happen in the future. The future is in God's hands and He has an awesome plan for us. Family or not!

My goal over the next few weeks as I read through this book is to claim all of these as my own. To not just post them for the world to see, but to actually start living by them. I know that only then, when I take my mind off the negative and onto the positive will I be content.