Practicing the Art of Contentment

art-of-contentment

I remember when I was first married. Pinterest had not been invented yet. The internet was all text (at least the part I could access) and the little I knew about decorating came from books, magazines,  and friend’s homes.

What I’m saying is that my world of comparison was very small compared to today.

I organized and reorganized my furniture on a whim. I used what I had around the house to create the look I wanted and took tips from my artistic mother. I didn’t have much to compare it with. I just went with what I liked. Ah! Those were the days 🙂

Grocery Bags with Food

Fast forward almost 20 years. If I had what I have now back then to work with I would have been ecstatic. But with waaaay too much to compare it with there comes times of discontent.

Times when I wish a certain wall of my home would look such and such a way. You know like that one I saw on Fixer Upper. Or that I just had this item that I spotted on Pinterest. And all would be well. Or am I sure I have the right blah, blah, blah, blah because there just might be a better looking one out there and I will FOREVER be unhappy because I have this one. So I just keep searching…and comparing.

Then I was reading a devotional I have by Emilie Barnes. In it she mentions…

“(We) don’t know what the future holds, so practice the art of contentment.”                             ~Emilie Barnes

I like to think of that as meaning to practice being thankful and content with what we have today.

It was confirmation of what I had been feeling.

Initially when we moved into our home I had a loooong list of things I needed to make this place truly a home. I scoured magazines, made one of those books where you cut out pictures, and we even kept a monthly chart.

Oh sure we’ve been blessed to do many of the things we wanted but after a while we got tired of it. Was it ever enough?

So we put the household spending (except for any unexpected repairs) on hold and just took a break.

Then I started doing what I used to do. Just playing around with what I have at home. The true urge doesn’t hit until spring but I made some changes in our living room (not worth taking a picture of) that made things cozier. And my daughter and I changed around her bedroom to give her a bit more room. Simple things that just required muscle.

Then my husband and I implemented the no spending plan. This means no groceries, nothing, for 2 weeks. Just an experiment but today marks the halfway point and wow! we’re actually eating through the freezer! We’re content. We’re eating good meals. We’re actually eating Trim Healthy Mama (in fact I’m so full I’m thinking of fasting).

We’re going to try and do this 2x a year and probably for a longer period of time than just 2 measly weeks.

So this month as we Practice the Art of Contentment we’re…

  • Enjoy each day for what is is.
  • Implementing a no spending plan (2 weeks).
  • Writing a list of our blessings each day.

What else can we do to Practice the Art of Contentment?

 

~ But godliness with contentment is great gain. ~

1 Timothy 6:6  (KJV)

 

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