time for contentment...

what does it mean to be content with where you are? how satisfied are we? do we change our situations or is it the other way around? all these questions need answers. it is time to look within...

most of our lives we are taught to strive for more and never rest till you get your wildest dreams to come true. even then you keep going. our world is packed with consumers. the i-need, i-want, and i-have-to-have people are everywhere. materialism is at an ultimate high, but the contentment i am talking about is on the inside. contentment with you and God. the contentment with your life situations.

we all go through phases and it never ends. one of the long and gut-wrenching phases for me was the college phase. it wasn't the academics but the relationships. in college you are surrounded with so many people of the opposite sex you can't think straight. i didn't. i got caught in the wind tunnel of senioritis. i remember thinking that because i wasn't engaged like half the girls in my class i failed. even though i did obtain my degree, i got a failing grade in boys. then you move on and get a real life. by this time everyone is asking you if your dating, engaged, or married. i went through this and i still continue too. i used to get so mad when they asked me that because if i didn't have a man in my life conversation ceased. why this was i will never know. over time you grow numb to it and realize what you personally may want to do with for the rest of your life. you don't need to have plans and there is no rule that says you have to have everything figured out after college.

my first strong dose of contentment came about 2 years ago. i was finally happy with who i was and what i had become. i still have much to go forward to achieve but looking back i realized how much time was wasted on the i-wishes. the Lord brought me to a place of contentment through Him. i love learning about Him. i know i need to be more of a sponge but to be in a place where your worries are taken away is so sweet. the Lord can give that to you. contentment is something He alone is master of completing. He loves you and longs to complete you. He knows your stress, demands, dreams, and desires. He also knows you need to feel content with Him first before others come your way. tiffany arbuckle, singer/songwriter of plumb, says it so beautifully when she wrote "in my arms: castles they might crumble, dreams may not come true, but you are never all alone. I will always love you."

you are never alone. if you ask to be content get ready to be rocked in your life. every day is a challenge to be content. satan is ever present and knows where to push your pressure points. it is possible to be content, but you need Christ. you need the One who knows the full meaning. don't stop dreaming or aspiring to what your full potential can be. God never desires you to be staying but growing. just take each step and be content with all that you did to get there. pray, read, study and learn from all that God offers to you. don't be dreary of life but excited to see what the day challenges bring to you. you change your situations, so don't reverse it.