Content

I was truly hoping to wake up this morning to a blanket of white on the ground. Didn't happened but it is all good. It will happen. I know I have friends who absolutely don't want any snow, of course, normally I think to myself; hey, if you dislike it that much, move south.....but now the South has snow. We make plans, God laughs.

So, milestones were met this week on my big project at work, and I am so very excited. One of the sub-projects was to put in two sets of radios at our buildings in Greenup. One running from our building to our newer building next door, and one running from our building to the outreach office uptown. Andrew put all of the hardware and cabling in place for me (he has learned to work with Cat 6 cable, and got to buy new toys to test and create cables, so he has had a learning experience too). Mike worked with the software side and yesterday morning at 11:15, they were all working!

Now get this. You pay for bandwidth speed. Normal, household internet (as well as small businesses) around here is usually a 10 down/2 up connection or at most a 20 down/ 4 up. Because we have a bigger network at our corporate office we have 100 down/40 up connection. When we are broadcasting that to the other offices, it translates into, they are going to have faster internet than they have ever had. When Mike was bringing it up on the speed test, I was about to cry. He turned around and told me not to bawl. I was seriously so happy though, it was hard not to.

To say the last few months have been stressful, would be putting it mildly. I have this little handful of friends and family though that are very much my support staff/ listening ears/ and sounding boards. I told one of my friends this week, my thoughts don't always sound stupid or unrealistic in my head, but when I say them out loud, and hear myself- sometimes I realize I'm having one of those "stinkin' thinkin'" moments. It is good to have someone to talk to, I am so very blessed with my group here on earth. I feel they were all put in my life to keep me pointed to God.

And obviously, God will always listen, and He is always there. I just want to point out that sometimes you may have people in your life God put there to be there for you. Let them.

I had dinner with another one of my friends the other night, she knows all the craziness going on in my life and stated that she really does think I am content through all of it. My mom said she thinks I am happier than ever. They are both right. They are two of that handful of friends and family though, they know what is going on, they hear me say stupid things, and they love me anyway. That does make life so much better. I keep hearing that word content though, and realize that is the perfect adjective for me. I am content. I am happy.

Hebrews 13:5-6 says, "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
    So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me."

In this Christmas season, we see so much greed, from manufacturers, who charge way more for something than it is worth, to the kids who want everything, to their parents who think in order to keep up with everyone else has to get them everything.  -Sidebar- when Robert was little, I was one of those parents. I have never been a huge fan of Kathie Lee Gifford, but she made the statement one year that she always just had three presents under the tree for each kid, one to represent each of the wise men's gifts. I loved the idea. It put more Christmas meaning into buying gifts. To this day, my now 25-year-old son harps if I ended up with 4 gifts for him under the tree. And, as a kid, when he knew he was limited to asking for 3 things, it made the list more bearable.Anyway, I love seeing people content, almost as much as I love being content. 

God gives contentment, He sent Christ to die for us, and before Christ died He promised to send a Comforter. When we truly seek Him, that contentment comes. Sometimes that contentment can come in a wash, and yes, I am one of those that emotions come a lot of times with tears, and it is okay. Big girls do cry, and sometimes it just feels good to let it out. And if it brings a feeling of peace afterwards, thank Him. 

I do need to add one disclaimer, I don't think being content is an excuse not to move forward and grow. I think we are always to be learning, growing and striving to be better at everything we do, but if you are happy with where you are as you are moving on that path, it makes it so much easier.

So, my wish for you today is to find contentment in your life. If this is sitting still for five minutes and just focusing on what God has given you, and what He allows you to do, then so be it, but find the time to focus on what is good, and what is important. I believe that is the beginning to finding true contentment.

I am leaving you with one of my all time favorite Christmas songs, I wish it were easier to find, but I found it a few years back and as I drove through town last night and saw our temporary skating rink, the song flooded my mind, and hasn't left. The story behind this song? We sang it for our Christmas concert my 8th grade year, less than a month after my dad died. I realize now, that it too, was offering contentment because even though we had been through a really rough time, we live in this awesome community that was helping us be okay. I know it took me a while to realize that, even moving away because I really thought all I wanted to do is get away from here. There truly is no place like home.

Have a great week!