Let me share a truth nugget that I've been learning over the past few weeks {and probably all throughout my life, but I'm just seeing it more clearly now}.

Being content. "Can I get a definition please?" Yup.

Content - adjective: satisfied with what one is or has; not wanting more or anything else.

I had mentioned in a previous post that "[w]hen God is teaching me something, He tends to make that very evident to me through various examples everywhere I go". I'm pretty sure that when teaching me something, He wants to be sure I really get it; He wants to confirm that I truly comprehend what He's trying to drill into my skull.

Moving back to my parent's house for the summer may mean no more hours spent sitting in a classroom for four months, but what it does mean is more hours than normal spent at work for four months.

Ugh.

Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy my job, but knowing that it's not something I want to be doing for the rest of my life has left me feeling a bit blasé about the whole thing lately. So when an announcement showed up in the bulletin at my church one Sunday about a summer student job opportunity right there at the church, I jumped at it.
Weeeeeeellll... Okay, not really. My friends had to tease me and feel convictions on my behalf before I finally thought I'd go for it.

But during the time of teasing from my friends is exactly when God was working in me.

The Sunday that the announcement was first in the bulletin was the same Sunday that a guest speaker was doing the sermon at my church. He was a missionary, so naturally he was talking about getting out of our comfort zones by trying a new volunteer position, new workplace, or maybe even moving somewhere completely foreign. Something he said that jumped out at me was:

"The name in the top left corner of your paycheck may change over the years, but the One you're truly working for is always the same."

Since I was hesitant about that summer job opportunity at my church, after that sermon is when my friends jokingly asked me if I felt that the speaker was talking to me when he talked about trying something new. My immediate reaction was no; I had felt that what the speaker said that jumped out at me was a reminder that I need to be content with the job that I have right now because ultimately I'm working for the Lord. I may not be getting as many hours as I want at my job, but that's not what really matters.

While I thought that that quote from the speaker was interesting, I quickly forgot about being content where I'm working, and the fact that I'm ultimately working for God. I decided to take up the opportunity for the summer student job at my church because I'd have consistent hours, the pay was good, and I mean, anything would be better than my job now, right?

Wrong. I didn't even get the summer student position at my church.

Despite how indecisive I had initially been, I still felt a fair amount of disappointment when I didn't get that job. I quickly realized however, that maybe I didn't get the job because God was still waiting for me to be content right where I'm at, because I very clearly wasn't. The other day someone asked me if I like my job, and I even surprised myself, and am ashamed that my hasty response was, "no, I don't". A day later I was reflecting on that with my mom, and saying that while I may wish that I had more hours, I have a lot to be thankful for at my job!

1. I'm not being mistreated by my employer
2. I get along quite well with my co-workers
3. I have consistency in my role at work -- I always know what's expected of me
4. I had a job to come home to when the school year ended, instead of having to go out on the ol' summer job search that every university student dreads

God is so good at gently {and repeatedly} reminding me to be satisfied with what I have, and not desiring anything more. I'm learning to appreciate my job with the thought in mind that it is ultimately the Lord for whom I'm doing my work.

"I'm grateful."

That's something I've found myself thinking or saying a lot recently. It's in the captions on my Facebook pictures, it's in my tweets as I reflect on the day, it's a hashtag on my Instagram photos of the beach, or a sunset. But all too often, I don't live my life in a way that reflects gratefulness.

Today I got home from taking a week-long intensive course at my school on the book of Psalms. There are one hundred and fifty Psalms and they can be organized into different categories, some of them being: lament, praise, thanksgiving, penitential, and enthronement Psalms. On the day that my professor talked about praise Psalms, something that he said really stuck out to me. He said, "Praise places us outside of ourselves and causes us to recognize that life is a gift". The knowledge that life is gift is something that although I logically know is true, it easily gets forgotten. Instead, too often we wind up getting consumed by the struggles and stresses of life.

I tend to be someone who gets anxious about a lot of things, so constantly being grateful no matter the situation is something that I've recently been striving to improve on. While this isn't from the Psalms, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 provides a good reminder to us that as Christians we are called to

"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

One simple strategy that can be used to put this into play is to start each morning by thinking of three things that you're thankful for; I got this idea from one of my pastors. Generally you'll start out with simple things like "family, friends, and pizza" but the more time you spend thinking about it, you'll end up with a list like "strength to get through every day, God's grace and unconditional love, and the joy that is found in friendships". Keep in mind that both lists are okay! It's perfectly fine to be grateful for the small things in life (pizza is delicious, after all); sometimes you have a hard day and the small things are all you can think of to be thankful for. But no matter what, it's necessary to remember that God is good, just, and loving, and He is worthy of all of our praise.
As an extension to that idea, lately I've enjoyed reflecting each day by taking my journal at night and making a list of ten things that I was grateful for within that day. That's also great because when I look back on previous journal entries, I'll remember specific things that I did that day!

Another important (and related) reminder that my professor gave this week is:

"To praise God is to live, and to live is to praise God."

Sometimes I seem to forget that every single moment, object, and human being was created by God. It's a thought that I can't fully fathom. But that statement from my professor is so awesome; it brings me right back to creation. God is the author of everything, and while He didn't need us in order to sustain Himself, He chose to create humankind. And that thought brings me back to the first point that I mentioned from my professor. Life is a gift. And it's one that God graciously grants us each morning, and for that I'm grateful. I long to live out each moment of this gift giving total praise to our God.