Contentment

Contentment...
I have struggled all my life with being content.  I always wanted more, or some other person's life.  I thought what I had wasn't good enough...that a different life would be more fulfilling..better.  I have learned now that I have been given the life that God has purposed for me to live.  I have been able to look back and thank Him for protecting me from what I thought was best for me.  Even though it is the life I am living in, I only see what is right in front of me.  God sees the whole picture...He is way up there looking far below on me.  In fact, God knew what me life would be like before I even came into existence. " For you created my inmost being you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. "Psalms 139: 13-16
I wish I would have trusted God from the beginning.  I wish I wasn't constantly questioning Him on the different roads my life would take.  I think about Paul who was in prison.  He had been beaten, scorned, starved, etc. and he was in a cell surrounded by feces.  And yet he says, "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Philippians 4: 11-13
Contentment is not a feeling, its an attitude. Contentment will not be gained when you get everything you want, it comes when you are grateful for the things you do have.   Contentment is not happiness...in fact God never promised us happiness.  He doesn't care about our happiness...He cares that we find contentment....contentment in whatever circumstance we are going through during that time. The only way to true contentment is staying in God's word.  His word speaks truth and love to us that can bring us joy and peace and...contentment.  We have to stop looking at what every one else has and being jealous of them...being jealous depletes us.  It gives us hopeless feelings. Envy destroys us physically...In Proverbs 14: 30 it says, "A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones." It destroys us spiritually, " For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice." James 3:16  What a waste of my life I have spent wishing for different, better things and the damage it caused while I dwelled on it.  Therefore today I am choosing to be content...for there is joy in this life I am living! 

Ava is 3 Months Old!!!

 

Ava is growing up soooo fast!  I cannot believe its been 13 weeks since she entered into this world.  Time flies, but I am enjoying every minute of it with her.  Ava has brought such joy to  our lives.  I love being her mommy and hope that I am doing my best all day, every day.  She is smiling and laughing a lot.  She is a pretty happy little thing.  She likes to eat and that is usually her grumpy time, when we aren't fast enough getting the bottle to her or we stop to burp her.  She is a little bit more spitty uppy than I would have chosen for her to be.  :)

She is starting to show an interest in toys that jingle and make noise.  She likes to hold on to blankies and sometimes she would rather suck her thumb than suck on a pacifier.  I'm not sure how to feel about the thumb sucking since you can't get rid of those. 

 

 

She is also holding her head up very well when she is on her belly. 

We are really enjoying reading books.  We read 3-4 every time right before we go down for our nap or we go down for the night.  At night, I still sleep in my swaddle and lay on my back.  When we put her in the crib we say our prayers and she smiles at us the whole time.  Then she just lays in her crib for about 20 minutes and talks to herself and eventually she falls asleep.  Watching her smile during prayer time is one of my favorite things!