Hello, lovelies. I am sitting cross legged on the couch looking into a brand new laptop screen with fingers tip tapping across fresh, clean keys. The children are at school, Seth and Sarah are napping, the dryer is humming, the roof is dripping. It’s up 20 degrees from yesterday and feels positively warm at 39, the snow was slushy and wet under my feet when I went to the coop earlier. Seth and Sarah went outside for about 20 minutes and managed to build and destroy three little snow men. The dog ran off with the carrots. Laughter, cold hands, hungry tummies, sandwiches, naps.
What am I thinking about? In a word, contentment. My dear friend Kara shared with me a book to read and I am only a few pages in but already refreshed by good, wholesome truths.
“…..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 living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:11
Wow, wait a minute, contentment can be learned. This fills me with hope, and a strong desire to learn, learn, learn! As Christians, God can and will infuse us with the strength we need to face each moment of every day and will teach us everything we need to know. Isn’t it encouraging that we got this far? I’m done with “chasing happy”, from now on I am going to “chase contentment”.
“For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!” 2 Corinthians 4:17 NLT
I am excited about my new book and if you want to read along, too, it is by Linda Dillow and titled Calm My Anxious Heart: A Woman’s Guide to Finding Contentment (I am sure men would enjoy it, too). 🙂 I am reading it on my kindle with a pencil and notebook.
***
A poem I came across recently:
What God Hath Promised
God hath not promised
Skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways
All our lives through;
God hath not promised
Sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow,
Peace without pain.
But God hath promised
Strength for the day,
Rest for the labor,
Light for the way,
Grace for the trials,
Help from above,
Unfailing sympathy,
Undying love.
Annie Johnson Flint
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A craft to do with the children
Like homemade play dough, homemade bean bags are a quick and easy thing to do with the children and are all the better for being made by our own six (more or less) hands. Seth and Sarah had a fun time choosing their own fabric from my bin of scraps, and I even let Seth press the sewing machine “foot” (scary) to sew his own.
We kept making them until the beans ran out.
Sethers was still in his cozy pajamas. I love those darling bare feet.
We ended up with six colorful little bean bags to throw around.
This one was my favorite, as you can see I got fancy with the stitching on this one, too. Mushrooms!
Sarah’s favorites were the baby blue/pink rose ones. She told me she didn’t like the mushroom one.
Watch out! They are about to let them fly.
Good to be Home 
Smiling. Bean bags are so simple and so much fun. Good for them too! Your book sounds so good, as does taking notes along with it. I always want to remember something but cannot find it again. I need your organization! Love to you my friend.
Such cute pictures. My Nick had the same pjs, but has grown out of them :(. I have some popcorn kernels and dried beans from a few sensory tables – think I’ll make some bean bags!
Congratulations on the new laptop! A fresh, clean slate. 🙂 Ahhhh….I would love to have one too. I have some crumbs underneath my key that I can’t get out.
Your post about the book is making me want to read it again. That book was a ‘life-changer’ for me. It really opened my eyes to some things in my life and made me want to be a better Christian. It encouraged me so much. I’m glad it’s encouraging you too.
Making those bean bags with you is a memory Seth and Sarah will cherish for the rest of their lives. My Mom didn’t do many things like that with us, but the few she did, I cherish to this day as a very special childhood memory.
I like your thoughts on contentment. Chasing contentment…
Glad all is okay and so nice to see you have a new laptop and can post 🙂 I bought the book you recommended (Kindle), it looks like a very good book.
Contentment….a worthy pursuit.
Amen;).
Blessings, christina
The poem you quoted is one that we sang often in my youth group when I was growing up. Reading it on your site brought back lots of happy memories. So glad you were able to enjoy making bean bags with S and S.
Glad you’re enjoying some quiet time!
How cute!
Love the mushrooms! Mushrooms are so much fun to draw. I used to do elaborate ones when I was younger. 🙂
I should try beanbags with my littles too. And I’m happy for you that you have a new laptop. Surely that will make contentment come more easily. 😉 Loved your thoughts, as usual.
Love your thoughts {and the quotes} on contentment.
And that mushroom beanbag….the fabric! So cute.
This is where I find myself, too, learning to be content. God is so good, how He patiently teaches us and meets us right where we are at. 🙂
glad you got a new laptop. and those bean bags look really fun! :))
those bean bags sound fun. might have to make some… my boys would love them! glad you are back… missed seeing updates from you every couple days. i have that book on my shelf, but have never read it. i think i will have to pull it out and read it now.
The beanbags look like a fun project! Adam keeps begging to be allowed to learn to sew and I’ve been trying to think of projects he could do that would be fun for him. This might be the perfect thing to start with!
I found your thoughts on contentment fascinating … I always think of it in sort of the same terms as the whole “pursue happiness and you’ll spend your whole life looking but just sit still and be quiet and it will come to you” mentality, but maybe there is something more to pursuing contentment than I realized.