On Being Satisfied...

We pull out of the driveway at 6:45 am, on our way to my favorite place in all the world, or at least, in all of North Carolina.  OUR favorite place in all the world North Carolina.  OUR place, our special place; where we go to get away and reconnect.

It’s been very nearly 2 years since the last time we came here, since we got away without kids to ANYWHERE.

We left a very quiet, very unusually quiet house.  A house void of kids and a dog who usually keep it hopping.  

Hopping and NOISY.

As we pull out, my exhausted brain is already reeling, and I think that this is when I think the most clearly somehow.  When I’m too tired to out-think myself or add the “what-if’s” and “if-only’s.”

This morning as I leave the comfort of my home, I am reflecting on something I’ve known for some time: that I take most of my life for granted.  

Even packing for a weekend trip is “difficult” because I don’t want to “unplug” and I can’t decide what to take and what to leave.  

Should I really plan to “work” while on a weekend getaway with E? Of course the correct answer is “no, ” but back to my point ( I promise I have one), 

feeling satisfied.

I haven't seen or used a lock like this in ages! Part of our new "home" for the weekend...

It’s easy to feel satisfied with what we have and what we’ve done, when we know we gave our best to achieve it.  Have you ever thought about the opposite, though? Why it’s so easy to be discontent when we have so much?

That the reason we’re not really, truly, satisfied with what we have – where we are – what we’ve done – is because we haven’t given our best – our REAL best – to get it?

A crack in the wall; part of the character that comes with staying in a historical landmark...

God tells us to share Him with all the world and make disciples of all nations.  

In all our busy-ness, it’s easy to believe sometimes that that doesn’t apply to us - doesn't apply to me.  

When I can’t “control” or maintain my tiny little bubble of a world (relatively speaking), how can I “go INTO all the world?”

Satan wants us to buy that lie.  On most days it’s easy to buy – easy to swallow – easy to believe.

But then I read things like this, and my belief in untruth smacks me hard in the face!

Now, mind you, I’m not moving to Uganda tomorrow and “quitting” my life here. 

But I WILL be looking for opportunities to do more, to do my BEST – my REAL BEST – here at home every day.

Because I shouldn’t be satisfied or content with less than my real, true, best.

And, like Katie, I realize my “everyday” {and sometimes even my “best”} is a filthy, reeking, disease (sin)-ridden mess.

 A mess God can still use – a ME, God can still use – if I desire to make my desires His desires.

"For as long as I can remember, one of my favorite Bible verses has been Psalm 37:4: 'Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart.' I used to believe it meant that if I did what the Lord asked of me, followed His commandments, and was a 'good girl,' He would grant all my desires and make my dreams come true. Today, this is still one of my favorite passages of Scripture, but I have learned to interpret it in a totally different way. It is not about God making my dreams come true but about God changing my dreams into His dreams for my life."

~Katie Davis, Kisses From Katie

Even the doorways here have character! I just love this place!