Blessings, Convictions and Contentment

Disclaimer ... this may be a post with lots of ramblings. I am writing to myself, primarily, to clarify my thoughts and views to myself. If you benefit or enjoy what you read, well ... that's just a bonus!

As I alluded to in a previous post ... I've been doing a lot of thinking and reflection lately. Maybe it is the holiday season, maybe it is the current sermon series from church about Hope, maybe it is just life in general. There is a lot of discontentment in life, my own life included from time to time. I'm unhappy with the way I look, my clothes don't fit the way I would like, my hair doesn't do the things i would like. Unhappiness with my job from time to time just dealing with the stress of working with others! :) and yes, if we are all honest with ourselves, we are even unhappy with our marriages and children from time to time. does that mean that we want to throw it all away -- NO!!! i love everything about my life so much ... that is where the convictions come. as a christian, we know that we will face struggles. perhaps we even face the greatest struggles and hurdles when we are walking closest with the Lord because satan wants to pull us away from Him.

i've been struggling a lot with material possessions. i want new kitchen floors, i would love a new sofa, michael wants us to have iphones, we want to go eat at the newest restaurants and buy the latest fashions. specifically, i want sarah to have the cutest clothes, the newest toys, the best of everything. are those things necessary? absolutely not. is it wrong for us to have those desires? absolutely not. however, it can become wrong when we let those things become our focus and we lose sight of the more important things.

in my job, i go out to work with children in some pretty bad parts of town. i've been in homes where the floor consists of a piece of plywood covering up holes in the flooring. i've been in homes without heat or air. i've seen families wear the same clothes day after day because they don't have anymore, or a child so excited about my bag of toys because all they have to "play" with are momma's pots, pans and spoons. how dare i go to the mall and buy hundreds of dollars worth of stuff to clutter up my home when i already have so much?! but yet, we do it ... all the time.

how can i sit back and watch the biggest loser week after week with michael and think, wow. i wish i could do that. i wish i could work out like they do and lose that weight. how can i sit back and think those things when my body works perfectly fine -- its my mind that doesn't do so well in the weight loss world. how can i complain about health when others are on oxygen, with heart problems, amputees, etc, etc, etc. i am blessed to have a body, although much bigger than is "healthy", that can do pretty much whatever i want it to do. but am i honoring God with my body? my body should be a temple for Him, would you really want to worship in a dilapidated temple?

I've been thinking a lot about others recently. Last night, Michael and I, along with another couple, had the chance to go to the Lovelady Center in Birmingham. We met Flo. Flo was a good kid when her father was murdered. To cope, she started using drugs. Several years later, her sister was killed. Shortly after the birth of her first son, she suffered a stroke as a result of using drugs. She had another son and was still using drugs. When she found out that she was pregnant with her daughter, she decided to get clean. She came to the lovelady house and got clean. She graduated from the program and left, but apparently she was not truly ready to leave. So she came back and she is still currently living there with her daughter. her 2 sons are being raised by family members and she sees them on weekends. She is working there in the accounting department. We redid her room for her last night. We painted and provided her with new bedding. How simple -- yet how huge for her. We were able to show her that Jesus loves her enough to send us down to inner city Bham on a Friday night with paint brushes to paint her bedroom.

She was appreciative, I was blessed. Such an easy thing to do, yet so hard to sometimes step out of our comfort zone and do something for someone else. Let someone else open the gift, let someone else experience the joy and happiness, let someone else see Christ in you.

More to come later ... including pictures of Flo and her new room!!!