Content in Christ

Welcome back to 31 Days of Living Well … we left off a couple of weeks ago as life got so busy for me off line I didn’t have time to keep writing online. But here we are — ready to finish up the last 10 days. In case you’d forgotten, the last post was We learn contentment. Over the next few days we’ll look at contentment in Christ, with ourselves, and in this season. Ready to get started again? Great! Me too!!

I keep asking myself this question: Are you REALLY content in Christ? I heard a pastor say once that if the Lord never did one more thing for him, he would still have received far more than he could ever truly ask. And I wonder as I look at my heart that far too often longs for something other, something different, something more … I wonder what it means to be truly, fully, wholly, content in Christ.

On the third weekend of every month I volunteer several hours of my time with La Clinica Cristiana. This amazing ministry provides free health care to those without insurance in our area. The majority of our patients are Hispanic and many do not speak English. Every month they begin lining up an hour or two {and sometimes more} before we unlock the doors. Our interpreters help the medical staff understand their needs and we do all we can to help them.

Last month after I’d finished checking in all our patients and filling out lab slips and making sure everyone had what they needed I wandered into the play room we have set up for the children. Three little girls were watching a VHS tape of a Veggie Tales movie as they used broken crayons to color the few remaining untouched pages in several old coloring books. I looked around the room and saw the evidence of a busy night with lots of kids in that little room. Puzzle pieces and Legos and empty candy wrappers were scattered across the floor. I began picking up the trash and straightening the room. As I sat down on the floor to begin putting puzzles back together, the girls moved to help me.

As we looked for the pig to finish one up another puzzle I asked them how to say pig in Spanish. “Puerco,” came the answer in unison from the girls. I repeated the word and the youngest crawled up in my lap. She looked up at me with her big brown eyes and messy hair. I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a big hug. She whispered, “Te amo” in my ear. “I love you too, Ariana,” I replied.

With a lump in my throat I looked around that plain room with it’s mismatched furniture and old television with the VHS player and all the torn up books and incomplete puzzles. My eyes fell on three little brown-skinned girls with dark wavy hair and the deepest brown eyes I’ve ever seen. I held back the tears and asked the girls if they wanted a sticker. Jumping up and running out of the room to my desk in the waiting area they patiently stood as I searched for the stickers I give out each month.

Carefully examining all their choices, each of the girls finally made her decision. I handed them the brightly colored stickers and gave each one a hug. I offered each one another sticker and all three politely declined. The oldest looked at me and said, “This one is my favorite. I’m happy with having it.” The other two nodded their agreement.

As they scampered off to find their mommas, I thought again about that question, “Am I content in Christ?” And the words of that sweet little girl echoed in my head, “This one is my favorite. I’m happy with having it.”

How could I NOT be content in Christ? His love calls out across all creation saying, “This one is my favorite. I’m happy with having her!” And He looks at each of one of us with that same beaming joy.

Praying today that you experience profound contentment in belonging to Christ!

With love,
Teri Lynne

{P.S. Thanks for hanging with me despite a two-week sabbatical from the 31 Days of Living Well series. Sometimes living well means you have less time for computers and blog posts and such. I did learn a lot of lessons during October … and I do promise we’ll finish this series up before Thanksgiving. Thank you for grace!! Don’t forget, all the posts are indexed here.}

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m super excited to be included in this week’s Bundle of the Week! Check out the “Celebrating Christmas” bundle which includes the devotional I wrote last year, “When God Draws Near.” {affiliate links below}

This week’s bundle offers a collection of ebooks to help you celebrate a simple Christmas with traditional activities, homemade gifts, healthy recipes and a devotional for the advent season. Save more than 75% as you rediscover and focus on the true meaning of Christmas!

This week only, get all five of these ebooks for $7.40: