want what you have...

Hola peeps!  I'm kind of excited right now because Henry just went down for his nap, and my first course of action wasn't to jump straight in my bed.  (Don't worry, if this post doesn't take his whole nap time, then I'll be headed there eventually... cause, well, why not?)

Four months from today is baby #2's due date!  We all know how that went last time, so I'm not gonna plan on him actually getting here any sooner than that.  I might just try to tell myself his due date is the 16th instead of the 9th so I won't be disappointed when the kid wants to overstay his welcome.

Anyway, none of the above is what I wanted to talk about today, but I really wanted to share something totally different.

Do you ever feel like the Lord is just pounding you over and over again with a theme - something specific He really wants you to do, learn, or understand?  Well, it took me about 1.5 years (or 18 months in mom language) to realize that God's been doing just that to/in/for me...

The theme = contentment and/or thanksgiving.  They really go hand in hand.  But it all started with the book "A Praying Life" which I started to read the day AFTER Henry was due because I needed to pass the time thinking about something other than downing castor oil.

Anyway, in that book the author quoted the verse 1 Thessalonians 5:17 OVER and OVER again, which said, "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."  For some reason, that word really has stuck with me over the past 18 months and I think about it all the time.

Next. You remember when I shared this post about Leah and Rachel - all about contentment.  Once again, God used his word and a gifted teacher to highlight this whole contentment and thanksgiving thing... how it might have possibly been missing in my life, and how I was looking for satisfaction in things other than Him.

The next two ways God has spoken to me are even more awesome because they have been through CDs and DVDs that I've been playing in the car to entertain HENRY!  Without going into too much detail, one song on a CD is all about being thankful.  And then the latest, a Veggie Tales DVD has a story about a "very BLUE berry" who is so sad that all of her friends and neighbors have nicer things than she does, so she goes to "Stuff Mart" to buy whatever her heart desires, but then realizes that "a thankful heart is a happy heart" and decides to give thanks for what she has instead of trying to get everything she doesn't have.

It doesn't end there!  I recently ordered the book "1000 Gifts" by Ann Voskamp from Amazon.  I ordered it because I had heard it was good, but I really had no idea what it was about - and I definitely didn't know it was a Christian book... on the very subject of thankfulness.  And it was soo, soo good.  (Side note: She writes very poetically, which is sooooo not my style, but I was able to look past it because the content was so great.)

Oh and how could I forget the little devotional book my mom gave me for Christmas that is filled with the themes of thanksgiving and contentment.  Not to mention - the Bible.

My new years resolution was to replace complaining with thankfulness.  Which, let me just say that grumbling = sin, and thanksgiving = the will of God for me... so yeah, that should have been a daily resolution, but oh well.

It wasn't till I picked up the 1000 gifts book that I was like, "Oh, goodness, Lord, it looks like you are trying to teach me something here!"  Dumb dumb, Leah.

Until now, I always gave thanks as a response - I was more of a passive thanks-giver.  I was passively content, assuming I had everything I wanted.  But what God has been doing is showing me that thanksgiving and happiness is an active CHOICE, and they aren't limited to circumstance because God's PRESENCE is not limited to circumstance.  Giving thanks is a way of seeing Jesus in all circumstances and letting Him be enough for you...

In the garden, Eve did not look at all she DID have, all that God had given her.  Instead she looked at the one thing she didn't have.  Discontentment and the lies that fuel it are the very cause of the fall.

So what are the things that you are looking to for contentment?  Surely there are a gazillion.  I truly hope that you and I both can replace our discontentment with thanksgiving and watch God work miracles as a result of our choosing to see His constant love in our lives.

I could totally keep going, but I think I've written quite enough.