Hmmmmm.....

I want you all to know that I'm working on some new ideas!  I've been pondering our need to be pampered a bit.  I know that treats can lift our spirits.  My last posts really embraced the idea of baking, decorating, and sharing those yummy treats!  Now I want to move on to something more personal.  Something just for you! But first...here's an update about me.   

We have moved into a smaller home within a little neighborhood.  It's completely opposite of our previous setting.  Gone are the wide open meadows bursting with flowers...and...yes...thistles.  Gone is the prairie garden and the gravel driveway.  Gone is the church house.  

In it's place is a new life.  Convenient. Finished. Small. Affordable. Practical. Neighborly. Manageable. Grassy. Tarred.  Towny.  Hmmmmm.....  seems like a lot of words.  Where's the personality?  True, I've grown accustomed to unusual circumstances.  I kind of like a "work in progress".  If the surroundings are "done"...where's the beauty?  Where's the challenge?  Where's the fun?

Contentment.  Ouch.  That's my new word.  I've wrestled with it...attacked it...resented it...cried over it.  Why do I lack contentment?  Why must I always strive for something outside of my grasp?  Where does this wildness come from?  I need to be content.  That's obvious.  The Lord is molding a new part of my character.  "Thank Me for this," He seems to be saying.  "Be content."  "You will find the peace you desperately need."  

Am I addicted to "peacelessness"?  (I know it's not a word!)  :)

"Be content with  your house, your borrowed van, your job, your yard, your flowers, your husband, your practical new surroundings.  Be content!"

You know, the idea is slowly growing on me.  Contentment.  I may be able to  embrace it.  I may call it my own.  

But I do want to make some changes here....paint a few rooms...plant a few flowers....meet a few new friends.  I'm willing to practice being content.  If I practice enough....maybe I'll become....content.   Hmmmm....I like it.

By the way, the other day, I was walking around our small, grassy lawn.  Guess what I saw?  It brought a smile to my lips.  A single...small....bit....of....a......THISTLE!  You know what they say:  "You can take the girl out of the field of thistles, but you can't take the "THISTLEBITS" out of the girl!" ;)  

And so....our story continues!  Let's embrace the beauty....every "bit" of it!