The First

I am so excited to begin my "blogging" career, and I can't think of a better time to start writing about my life adventures than now! I originally created this blog as a way for our friends and family to keep up to date with our new lives together as "newly-weds." I'm not sure if I will have any readers at all, but I'm looking forward to sharing my stories, my insights, my adventures, and my heart with YOU--whoever you are! It is my prayer that this blog would do nothing more than to bring glory to our heavenly father. As I have been praying and pursuing the Lord's vision and will for my life, I feel like I am taking a tiny step of obedience as I begin to write. (I look forward to sharing more about this later). I pray that you will find some sort of comfort and encouragement as I get real and embrace a certain vulnerability through the words that fill this page.

Lilly Moscovitz was disappointed when she found out her cable show only reached twelve households, but if I have more readers than my very loving, over-supportive and encouraging parents--I'll be completely content!

Content. 

The Lord has been teaching me A LOT about contentment right now. 

What more could I possibly want? 

If you know me pretty well, then you're aware that I just got married to the man of my dreams. A man who loves me, supports me, serves me, prays for me, and makes me laugh more than anything else in this world. I am blessed. Some of you may also know that I accepted my first teaching position with an amazing school district in South Dakota. I will be teaching 7th grade English Language Arts this fall, and I couldn't be more excited! I have a husband, I have a job, and I have a heavenly father who loves me more than anything. I have everything I need.

But let's get real... No matter how great everything is, it's really easy too easy to look around and find things to be discontent about. My relationships, my time, my wardrobe, my attitude, my body-image, my two-bedroom apartment, my purpose, my schedule, my desires, my self-discipline... Must I go on??

In chapter four of Philippians, Paul urges us to help one another, to rejoice in everything, to release our anxiety, and to trust in the Lord and find the peace that our wonderful God has to offer us using all sorts of"whatevers" as a guideline. BUT. Paul also teaches us to be content in any and every situation. 

Easier said than done. 

The Lord has been teaching me in this season that even the little things belong to Him--He is continuously working on my heart. It's so easy to loose sight of the bigger picture and purpose as we get bogged down with insignificant details that wiggle into our daily lives and plant a seed of discontentment.  Indulging in these silly attitudes and pointless desires only waters this ugly seed, causing it to sprout into more discontentment. It becomes even more noticeable not only to ourselves, but to others as well, as we work, buy, and stress our way to "happiness." We are not called to be people who are always seeking and searching for earthly things to fulfill our fundamental needs. We are called to be people who are seeking and searching the heart of our heavenly father! We are called to find all of our worth, purpose, happiness, and contentment in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. 

More than ever I have been aware of the choices I have. I can choose to have a positive attitude. I can choose to say kind things. I can choose to see the best in everything. I can choose to actively love my husband. I can choose to be content exactly where I am. It's amazing how freeing this concept really is. To embrace the wonderful things around me--the perfect gifts that God has blessed me with! I hope if anything, after reading this post, you are able to look around and recognize the many things you have been blessed with. 

How do you remain content in this crazy world that insists we always need more?