discontentment and thankfulness have been on my mind lately. i am definitely a person who can get discontent so easily. i mean, i could go ahead and blame it on the media, on magazines, on internet advertising that tells me “more, more, more” but….i won’t. it seems as though once we start complaining about one thing, it all goes downhill from there. kind of like when you wake up for the day and one bad thing happens – you begin thinking about what a horrible day it is going to be. the same thing happens with discontentment- once you start saying “why me?” or “why don’t i have…” ingratitude just grows and grows.

there are definitely ways to be discontent with material possessions. and living in materialistic america doesn’t help that much. we can always be wanting more. but we can also become content with our daily lives…what we are or not doing…

at first, i became discontent about being a stay at home mom. really, i did. most days, i was incredibly thankful but other days i started thinking “if i only had a college degree and a career” or “i’d really like some extra money right now…” when instead i should have been thinking “i am so blessed that i am able to stay at home with leland” or “i am going to do the best to make money stretch and be creative in the way i do things now.” i may not have some fancy job out there, but i am daily raising a precious, tiny little person and for that, i am thankful.

today, i pray that thankfulness and gratitude become so prevalent in my life… we really have so much to be thankful for, and i never want to forget all of the blessings in my day to day life.

love,
arielle