One Word: Contentment

For the second year now, I’ve been challenged to come up with a single word that could easily define where I feel God is taking me, challenging me, growing me. Having one word sum up an entire year – especially one that hasn’t existed yet – originally seemed like an incredibly daunting task.

But the ease of which this year’s word came to me was proof it was the right one.

I was seated on the couch. I had just capped off two full days of doing work around the house – fixing this, adjusting that. I was exhausted. But in the back of my head I knew how long the TODO list still was. It was a little defeating.

I looked around the room and was unhappy with what I saw. Messy floors from messy kids. Dishes left undone. And the TODO list. That cursed TODO list.

This great sense of frustration swept over me. “Is this it? Is this what I work so hard for? This mess? This continual sense of incompleteness?”

I sighed and decided to prematurely sever the thought process. I’d been here before over the past few weeks and it never ended well. I took a deep sigh and was reminded of the assignment I had been given earlier in the week: to come up with one word for 2014.

“This sense of incompleteness. It needs to be a sense of completeness. Of whole. Maybe not finished, but where it is now is where it needs to be. Gratitude.”

And so the word came to me: contentment.

Erin and I have talked about contentment a lot recently. We tend to beg and pray and when we finally get what we asked for, we simply move on to the next wish. We rarely spend as much time being thankful as we spend in “deep” need. We keep coming back to the phrase “Comparison is the death of contentment.” When you’re not focused on what it is you’re grateful for, it’s so easy to let your thoughts wander to your friend who got the promotion while you got passed over. To that family who seems to have it all together, while you struggle to not lose your temper while putting your kids to bed. In comparison, my life clearly sucks. And If I just had _____, it would be complete.

Wrong. I am exactly where I need to be. And God has given me all that I need – and so much more than I could ever ask for.

I looked around the room and was content with what I saw. I saw messy floors – evidence that my two daughters had a blast playing with each other today. I saw a sink full of dishes – we clearly have enough food for everyone. I remembered my TODO list – a list of things I get to work on around the house. The house we pleaded God for and the house God, rich in mercy, gave to us.

This year, I will focus on contentment. I will adjust my perspective and see all that is around me as a gift. I won’t waste a moment with my messy, sticky, bed-wetting kids. I’ll stop complaining about leaky faucets, cold weather, and all the other things that so easily distract me from the abundance of favor my God has shown me.

“The Lord is my shepherd. I have ALL that I need.” Psalm 23:1