*Yes, I’m back from camping. Here are my musings.
I write these words sitting in a lawn chair. It’s torn on one side, but still holds me up. My feet are bare, my toes digging into the dirt around our campfire. At my side my son plays with his old toy excavator in the pebbles. My daughter is asleep. I haven’t showered, but I’ve had a cup of instant coffee and half a bowl of Special K (which was free, of course, thanks to coupons!). It would have been a whole bowl but my daughter hijacked it and finished it herself. Oh well. We’re camping. Somehow things that seem like such a big deal at home—a hot shower and breakfast—don’t matter at all when we’re surrounded by dirt and grass and glorious oak trees, by a lake and an Osprey nest and dozens of other unshowered people who, like me, are wearing the same clothes they wore yesterday. Sitting in this lawn chair, in the dappled shade and lightly blowing breeze, is just about perfection.
Isn’t it interesting that we find ourselves the most content during the times we go without our everyday conveniences?
Mission trips are the best example of this. My first mission trip was to Recife, Brasil. My friend and I rotated three pairs of shorts the whole 2 ½ weeks we were there. We slept on a concrete floor, worked from 5am-10pm each day, ate really runny yogurt for breakfast each day, and walked everywhere we went. We also had to be very careful not to electrocute ourselves in the shower. It was one of the happiest times of my life.
Right now, we’re camping for a week. And today some dear friends joined us, long-term missionaries to Africa, who just returned from a 9-month stay there. Unlike my short-term mission experience, these guys do the real thing. They live there. They own property there. They live like the African. And they are two of the happiest people I know. The husband’s name is Paul. Another Paul, the Apostle, the original church-planting missionary, knew about contentment as well. He wrote to the church at Philippi:
“…I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:11-13).
Later, as he writes to his young protégé Timothy, he writes,
“Now godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we can not take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content” (1 Tim. 6:6-8).
It seems that Paul knew the secret of contentment came not, of course, from having the latest iphone. As we scratch the surface of contentment, here’s what I find from these passages:
1. Contentment is learned. Just like almost everything else in life, we simply have to train ourselves to learn the skill of contentment. I remember the first time I visited FrugalLivingNW—I was so overwhelmed I wanted to cry. What was an SS or RP insert and why on earth were they always talking about cats that rolled? I just wanted coupons, not new feline friends that could do tricks! I was so confused.
But of course, I learned. It’s taken time but now I can figure out the codes, cash in on the deals, and even roll that cat(alina) to the next transaction. Any time we learn a new skill we make the decision to invest the time to make that desired goal a reality.
In the same way, we learn contentment when we make little choices, each and every day, to be content no matter what our circumstances. And all those little choices will one day surprise us, when we discover we’ve grown into a person who is content. We have all the natural talent it takes to excel in this skill. It just takes a little practice and an understanding of a little secret.
2. The secret is God’s strength. I believe that it’s impossible to talk about growing in contentment without revealing that the secret is found in Jesus Christ. Philippians 4:13 has been misused in a million different ways. The context of the verse is contentment, not state championships. Through God’s strength, we can find the power to be content in whatever circumstances. This means that our contentment can be fixed and firm, because it is God’s desire that we are content. We can be confident in our request to Him for strength to be content.
What does this look like? It’s sad to say, but 9 times out of 10 my prayers are asking God to fix my situation so that it lines up with what I want it to be. In other words, change my circumstances so I can be happy. Instead, let’s pray for God to change our hearts so that we can be content in our circumstances, whatever they are. Yes, we still wrestle in prayer over those things with which we are struggling. But, just as Christ did in his final prayers in the garden of Gethsemene, we submit our will to God’s and pray thy will be done. God gives us the strength to make our hearts content.
3. Contentment is the greatest gain. We are bombarded, every day, with messages that feed our sense of discontent. Advertisers want us to believe that if we buy their product we will gain happiness, status, success.
Don’t buy it. Buying a bunch of stuff is not truly a gain. More often than not, the things we own own us. We are wise to remember that each purchase we make, even if it’s a money-maker, carries with it an obligation. We must then wash it or eat it or cook it or give it or house it or insure it or take care of it. Sometimes, less is more. Going without can be the greatest gain.
So I’m excited to hang out with my Africa missionary friends tonight. I’m hoping some of their contentment-with-little can rub off on me. At least I’ll be reminded that it is possible to live for 9 months without Winco or Starbucks. For now I’m thankful for the dirt in my toes and a week of living with a little less than normal. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a toy excavator with my name on it and a three-year-old ready to dig.