Day 28 Contentment

 

1/28/2026 

"But godliness with contentment 

is great gain."

 

1 Timothy 6:6

 

 

As this year began I found myself in a new season of learning an old lesson. It seems that sometimes God has to give us refresher courses in areas where we are falling short. Or so it seems. Over the past four years, as I resettled back into my parents' home where I grew up, purchasing the house and beginning to work on fixing it back to its old appearance, I found the task becoming more and more daunting. At the end of November I made plans to begin again, not relying on anyone to help me in my renovation plans. All this time I've been trying to find someone who wants to help with some much-needed fixing up, but attempts have been futile. One older man actually shook my hand and said he'd be back with an estimate. When he didn't return or even call me back, I was devastated to learn that a handshake didn't mean what it did in my daddy's day. 

 

Early in December I made plans to have a new roof installed in January, so I felt that at last I was making progress, until December 9th brought an unexpected detour in my plans. My son was involved in accident on a icy back road when a truck hurrying past him clipped my car's mirror sending him off the side of the road down a slippery slope. Fortunately, a guardrail caught my little Nissan Sentra which prevented the car from rolling over upside down into a creek bed that would have drowned him. As it was he had great difficulty getting out of the car as two airbags had imploded. Thankfully, he did not sustain serious injuries other than further pain to his back. The car, however, is now in car heaven, and I've been without a vehicle since that day. My dad's old car was not able to be repaired, and the holidays and the weather have limited my getting out to look at cars. I have also experienced a little relapse in my health, but hopefully, it will turn itself around. My appointment with a specialist is not until the middle of February, so even that has taken time. I guess one has to schedule being sick far in advance in order to get an appointment. But all is good, and I am still smiling. I would say laughing, as I usually do that to keep from crying, but I'm just keeping it real.

 

My family has had more than its share of discouragements over these many years, and, for lack of a better word, many mishaps that have disrupted the family's relationships, leaving me as the mediator, or simply the last one standing. Strangely, I thought retirement would give me the freedom and opportunity to not have to be so concerned or involved in the drama of life. But I guess that's not so, and the fun is just beginning, or I hope rather that the healing can truly begin. Time, and much patience, will tell. In the meantime, God is teaching me some new lessons about trusting Him and in being content with what is happening in my life. I love the photo of the little Asian child taking a bath in the galvanized bucket. It brings back childhood memories. When I was little my grandparents lived in a home owned by Tom and Mary Puryear who owned the little country store on a country road catawampus from my grandparent's home, meaning just up the highway a dash and to the left down the little dirt road. I remember they had the best and largest homemade oatmeal cookies ever! There were fish tank style canisters, lying on the side, lined up on the counter, that held cookies and candies. There was a pot belly stove and small tables where my Papa and his buddies gathered to play checkers. Mr. Tom had an old dog that hung around inside the store sleeping. The store always smelled like wood and pipe tobacco, with a few cigars. My Papa sure did like his cigars.

 

The little house my Grammy and Papa lived in didn't have a bathroom or running water when I was little, so the water had to be pumped from the outside well, then heated on the stove for my bath. My tub was an old galvanized tub that had seen its days. My grandparents had eight children, so it had washed a many little ones in its day, I imagine. But I loved it back then. This is why the little girl above made me smile. Sweet memories even when days may have been a little harder for my grandparents. Later on, Mr. Tom installed a water pump into the kitchen, and he eventually built on a little bathroom, but without heat at first. Everything takes time to get done. I realize that more than ever as I work on this home with limited resources. But I think when we do finally get things done we appreciate it more, even in the waiting. I know that my daddy worked hard in order to get things done, and he was a jack of all trades, and he mastered quite a few. Others may have been creative, but he got the job done. I can attest to that, as I see some of his "fixes" are still holding strong to this day. Others I question, but knowing my daddy, he did what he had to do to get a job done at the time. I respect and appreciate that about him. And I sure wish he were here right now to give me a little advice, but he's in a place where he doesn't have to be concerned about fixing up things. I can hardly wait to see the mansions Jesus spoke about, although I'd be just as happy with a little cabin in the woods, no frills, just Jesus.

 

I got to thinking about Job's response when God first allowed Satan to put Job's loyalty to the test. Job was described as a man who was "blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil." (Job 1:1). Everyone is familiar with the story of Job, as it is the oldest recorded book in the Bible. When Job lost all his possessions and his children were killed, Job's response was:

 

"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." (Job 1:21)

 

I must admit, these same words came to my mind on that eventful day in December. Through Job's struggles with loss, the lack of comfort from his friends, and his wife's terrible advice to curse God and die, in the end He actually came to know that before he had only been told about God, but when he encountered God in answer to his prayers, he came to understand how little he knew about the Living God of Creation. His troubling friends also learned a great lesson in humility. In the end God restored double of all Job had lost. Such a wonderful end to a traumatic story. It makes me wonder if the wife was there when he was restored. I guess that question will have to wait, although Job did have more children.

 

Paul, formerly Saul of Tarsus, also experienced a great season of testing and trials that transformed his life. Matthew, the tax collector, made quite an adjustment in his life to follow Jesus, as did Simon the Zealot, who learned to turn from his deadly methods of protecting the King of kings, to understanding that Jesus had a different plan and purpose as His earthly mission. Each encountered trials, challenges, loss, but they found "godliness with contentment is great gain." Jesus left His throne in Heaven to come to earth in the form of a baby, who grew into the Son of Man, in order to accomplish God's rescue mission for mankind who had failed so desperately. God's great mercy, and Jesus' obedience to His Father, ransomed our souls from eternal death, so we could be born again into the Kingdom of God by the blood of the perfect Lamb of God. His ways are infinitely higher.

 

So, in my season of change, I can whine or I can grow into the person God wants me to be - loving, patient, kind, merciful, full of compassion, extremely humble, yet resourceful. I am always careful to give God praise for everything that has been given, loaned, to me, as I try to ask Him about every decision I make. Perhaps He just wants me to become a little more self-confident in walking out what I already have learned as I sit with Him daily in our alone time. I'm really not certain at this time what exactly I am to learn, except to be content with all things at all times, and to leave matters in His capable hands. He is after all trustworthy. With that thought in mind I'll close out the day and dream of days to come as I wait and see what comes next. Shalom, friends.