The picture above was taken at a lake in eastern Washington where my husband & I were fishing with our youngest son and his family. ( I caught a really big trout and it was delicious ! ) I thought to myself this is the perfect place to camp and maybe live. Who wouldn't love a classic Airstream travel trailer parked dock-side at a lake chock full of fish just waiting to be caught and pan fried ? A mountain behind the trailer to boot ! I could do this, really. Just looking at this picture makes me happy.
After browsing through all my pictures trapped in our computer files I realized I have the life my husband and I made together with love, with hard work, with planning ( often gone awry ) and also a life full of the hardships and agonies many others suffer , yet still a life of great abundance . Abundance that is NOT of the monetary. I have the desires of my heart and they are not any of my material possessions!
I truly know and understand the saying "life is wasted on the young" ,because if I and my husband had known when we were young what we know now, we would have made so many different choices. Yet we are not made to know in our youth what we know in our older age. And really, if someone had told us we should NOT do this, or we should do that, we would probably have done what we thought best anyway. Such is youth. ( Hey you young things out there, listen again carefully to your elders ! )
So, back to the picture and my dream of living somewhere else , a dream of a different life. Yes, I can dream, and my husband and I dream and plan together, but I truly know I am blessed by God no matter where I live , in the here and now. We have a home we built together with the help of family and friends after a few years of living in a repo single- wide mobile home while we built. Our dream home was crushed by 3 falling trees during a severe storm* a few years ago , and months later repaired. We have an abundance of food but for many years our budget was so slim that out of necessity I found ways to make 3 filling meals for a family of 5 plus company using one store-bought fryer chicken , not to mention ( but I will ) another frequent dinner ~ my husband's least favorite meal, tuna noodle casserole. We now have more material possessions than we need and plenty of food. Abundance and lack are temporal conditions and not necessary for happiness or contentment. We know that where we live does not determine our happiness , but Who we trust our lives to does.
Our true abundance and contentment lies in Him~ Jesus, and all He has given of Himself. Only His life, for us. The "When" ? Now and forever redeemed in spite of ourselves. John 3:16
"I know how to get along with humble means , and I also know how to live in prosperity, in any and every circumstance. I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. ( Jesus ) ." Philippians 4: 12, 13
10 comments:
Dear Kathy ~ This was GREAT! A lovely reminder for all of us to be thankful each and every day for our many blessings. To live in the now while we dream our dreams.
I love how you ended your post with Paul's words.
Thank you ~ FlowerLady
Absolutely, Kathy! I would add, most have an abundance of money as well...can we not afford to pay for the necessities...food, shelter, clothing? A lot of my wants go by the wayside but so what? Having a good marriage makes a good life; when Dave died, so many women wrote me to say, "Do you know how lucky you were? Do you know how many women would kill to have that kind of marriage?" I wanted to ask, "Willing to kill but not willing to work, learning submission in a Godly marriage even when only one is saved?" And, btw, it doesn't take "luck", it takes work, prayer, perseverance and lots of respect for each other.
GREAT post and I can SO relate! We try really hard to live in the moment but in our younger years that wasn't the case:) Have a blessed day dear friend and thanks for this reminder! HUGS!
We share the same God who has taught us the same lessons. And with the same results! All the things we looked forward to accomplished. Learning material possessions are just that.
Thank you friend for sharing that with me this morning. Praying you are all safe from drought and fire.
Hugs,Deb
Such a beautiful post.
Wonderful post, Kathy. I can remember when I was much younger, I would often say, "I wish..." and fill in the blank for whatever it was I was wishing for at that moment. My Dad would hear me say that and tell me that I was wishing my life away. I didn't really understand what he meant at the time, but I understand it now.
Amen and amen!
Amen. there's so much to be grateful for, even in the midst of trials.
Flower Lady Lorraine, I love that about life, we can plan and dream happily, and be so creative doing so. I am still making plans and dreaming about them, but now I realize I am happy here, now, and even in distress, things will work out because they always have. So many years wasted worrying about bad things that never happened only to be hit head-on with worse tings than I imagined but God gave us comfort while He pulled us through. I am so quick to forget this though. Thank-you for the reminder you present in your blog about the joys of life appreciated while still suffering from the loss of your beloved. You are so encouraging.
Sandra, I agree with you 100 %. "Luck" is not what makes a marriage work. "Willing to kill , but not willing to work", I love that line and may quote it some day !
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