When I was a little, family devotions were held in the morning before school with all of us together in my parents' room. I can remember climbing into my parents' bed with my sisters and listening as one of us would read a story from a devotional book. We then spent time praying for each other, family members, church members, and missionaries. Even though I tended to be in a mostly drowsy state in the morning, some of the stories seeped through and have stuck.
One particular story has always stayed with me. It was the story of an old man sitting on a porch with a young boy. As they sit, a car drives up with a family. They ask the old man if the town is a good place to live. The old man responds with a question. He asks them what their previous home was like. The family proceeds to complain of how horrible their previous neighbors were. The old man tells them that they will be no happier in his town. After the family drives away, a second family drives up. They ask the old man the same question and he responds as he did to the first. The second family then tells him of how much they will miss their previous home and how wonderful the people were. The old man welcomes them and says that they will find a good home in his town. After the second family drives away, the young boy asks the old man about his two very different answers. The old man explains that contentedness is something that we bring with us wherever we go.
As I have moved from place to place over the years, this story is always a good reminder that I need to be "content whatever the circumstances" (Phil 4:11-13). Part of learning to be content for me is realizing that God has set me in places for a certain amount of time. I can be thankful for where He has placed me in the past and where He is sending me in the future. However, I am called to live where I am at until the last moment. It can be so easy to see our future as the solution to our problems or to consistently mourn the ending of past good times. There is so much joy in living with what God has given me now in the knowledge that He is my true source of contentment.
