Showing posts with label encouragement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label encouragement. Show all posts

Friday, March 2, 2012

Life is a Tangled Mess

Imagine, if you will, five skeins of yarn all clumped together in a tangled mess and you've been asked to untangle the clump. Looking at the clump some folks will automatically assume the job is impossible and will just throw it out without even trying. Some will make a feeble attempt and give up almost immediately. And some, like myself, will launch into the project with frenzied determination to solve the puzzle.

Converting a skein of yarn into a ball is advised by many before one attempts to start a project. As long as the skein is without snags, rolling up a ball of yarn is often an easy task. It's accomplished automatically and without any particular fanfare. With skill and a little imagination, all kinds of beautiful things can then be made.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Learning to Be Content

Philippians 4: 12-13  Paul writes:
I know what it is like to be in need. I know what it is like to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.


Over the past year I have been part of a growing number of people around the US. I have been unemployed. After ten years at the same organization, my position was eliminated. My husband is disabled so our family had been dependent upon my wages to make ends meet. So, like so many others, I can honestly say that I know what it is like to be in need especially as the bank balance dips dangerously close to zero.

To the outside world, it looks as if my family is "poor." We have had to learn to "make do" or simply "go without." It has been a couple of years since our television has served as anything other than a means to watch an occasional  DVD. My dryer had been out of commission for about seven months, forcing us to utilize the clothesline. It got fixed about three weeks ago and ironically the washer died just  the other day. Our one and only computer has 3 keys that no longer work and so we use the on-screen keyboard to compensate. My husband's recliner does not recline....the list is quite long, actually, of things we used to take for granted and cannot use at this time.

One lesson we've learned is there is a difference between our "wants" and our "needs." God provides our "needs" just as He provides the needs of the sparrow! We are not hungry. We have our home. We have each other. We truly are abundantly blessed!