Learning True Contentment by God’s Grace

Hey everyone! My name is Sarah;  I am married to my high school sweetheart, and together we have a beautiful, energetic little girl and a baby boy on the way! I am so excited to be guest posting for Kathryn today. Not only is she a wonderful friend, but she is honestly also one of the strongest wives and mothers I know. Each of her posts are equally inspiring and challenging to my spiritual and practical life. Today I wanted to talk to you about a few things that God has really been laying on my heart lately – true contentment and prayer. A few of these thoughts are taken from my previous posts from my blog “All Things Beautiful.”

We live in a world that is constantly craving more. There will always be someone telling you that you can have it better, or you may even find yourself thinking how much happier you would be if only this would happen or that could happen. And quite honestly, it is one of the easiest things as a human to be ignorant of what God has blessed you with and to just want more. Superbowl weekend just passed, and even though my little family didn’t watch the big game, I know that one of the most anticipated things to watch during the Superbowl is commercials. From advertising items like the hottest new cars to underwear, you can clearly tell what this world’s message is – you can never be truly satisfied with what you have until you get something better or something new! Umm, how sad is that! Not only does this world struggle with this concept, but Christians too, and it takes the power of God and dedicating yourself to praying every day to learn true contentment.

Some of you connect with Kathryn because you too are military wives. The military life is hard, but so incredibly rewarding! My wonderful husband of almost 4 years was in the Marines for 5 years; his 5 yr contract recently ended this past August, and I must admit, it is quite a relief knowing he will not deploy anymore! As a family, we dealt with three deployments each year lasting about 7 months. He missed the birth of our firstborn & altogether 15 months of her life, and she is not even 3 yrs old yet. There were many, many times where I found myself thinking how much better and easier my life would be if only he were home! I know that is true to a certain extent, but some days I literally let that thought consume me and make me depressed. Then he’d finally come home, and life would be wonderful, and then I’d find something else to worry or complain about!  For example, once his contract with the military ended, we moved to Virginia, and the moment we did, my annoying flesh started finding yet another thing to complain about, such as not knowing any family or friends in a new place and blaming my unhappiness on loneliness! How awful! I wasn’t enjoying the ride and wasn’t seeing God’s provision and daily blessings in my life, because I was too focused on what I didn’t have! And trust me girls, there is nothing more ugly than an unthankful, complaining wife! It’s true! When I am content and happy, my husband is happy and life is just predominantly more enjoyable!

Thankfully, God in His amazing patience allowed me to realize this pattern while helping me see that I couldn’t change without Him. You can not be truly content without being completely reliant upon the Lord and praying for a real heart change. It’s a constant, daily battle to not complain; the Bible says that complaining is of the devil! I challenge you girls to start off each and every day with prayer; I know it can be hard getting that alone time in with the Lord each morning, especially if you have a little one who wakes up before you do like me! But trust me, committing your day to God will completely change your day around, I promise! Your attitude is different, you handle the hard times easier, and your relationships especially with your husband and kids are just overall better when you put God first in your day! And really, what more could you want?

I hope you enjoyed Sarah’s guest post for today. Something that definitely spoke to my heart. I hope you will go and check out her blog: All Things Beautiful and give her some blog love!