{"id":48,"date":"2012-11-21T18:56:00","date_gmt":"2012-11-21T23:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oshetablogs.wordpress.com\/2012\/11\/21\/philippians-411-13-frazzled-homemaker-version"},"modified":"2012-11-21T18:56:00","modified_gmt":"2012-11-21T23:56:00","slug":"philippians-411-13-frazzled-homemaker-version","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/shalominthecity\/2012\/11\/philippians-411-13-frazzled-homemaker-version\/","title":{"rendered":"Philippians 4:11-13 (Frazzled Homemaker Version)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
<\/a><\/div>\n

I don\u2019t want to be writing this blog post right now. \u00a0Don\u2019t get me wrong, I love, love, love you for being a reader, caring about my life, and stroking my creative ego\u2026 but God has been working on me this morning about writing this post and I\u2019m wrestling with him. \u00a0<\/span>

I have to write this post\u2026 I can\u2019t get away from it\u2026 \u00a0I turn to the piles of laundry and I want to scowl at them\u2013they\u2019re never satisfied, always wanting to be cleaned, folded, and put away, only to be dirtied again\u2013and they call out, \u201cbe content, be grateful, we keep you warm in the cold!\u201d. \u00a0I turn to my kids\u2019 messy rooms and disgust bubbles in my gut to push up a growl, but the action figures and Barbie dolls interrupt me crying, \u201cbe content, be grateful, we belong to the children you love. The children you prayed for!\u201d. \u00a0There is simply not enough space for our family of five in this three bedroom townhouse\u2013 I want to move to a place with bigger rooms, updated appliances, and an actual dining room\u2013not an eat in kitchen. In the middle of my daydreaming, \u00a0the Spirit of the Lord whispers, \u201cbe content, be grateful, seven years ago you were homeless from the Storm and I gave this home to you.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>

So I\u2019m wrestling with God about being thankful but more accurately\u2026 being content. \u00a0<\/b><\/span>

I\u2019ve always thought of contentment as the Christian\u2019s way of settling. As if saying you\u2019re content with your circumstances takes the sting off wanting, just like saying you\u2019re \u201ctoo blessed to be stressed\u201d takes the sting off suffering, or proclaiming jauntily\u201d God is a good\u2026 all the time! \u00a0All the time\u2026 God is good!\u201d sugar coats the reality that there is very real evil in this word. A good sentiment. \u00a0Pretty wrapping paper on a broken toy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>

The more I meditate on contentment though, the more I realize it\u2019s more than a bible-based platitude, it\u2019s a Spirit-breathed attitude. \u00a0<\/b><\/span>

I\u2019m reminded of Paul in jail writing to the Philippians telling them he\u2019s found the secret to being content! \u00a0<\/span>

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content<\/sup>\u00a0whatever the circumstances.<\/span>\u00a0I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry,<\/sup>\u00a0whether living in plenty or in want.<\/sup><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/sup>I can do all this through him who gives me strength.<\/span><\/i><\/span>
Philippians 4:11-13<\/span><\/i>

<\/span><\/i>This passage totally turns the \u201ccontentment is glossed over settling\u201d concept on its head. \u00a0Contentment is not clinging to a circumstance or concept, but clinging to Christ.\u00a0<\/span>

Again, I know\u2026 cliche. \u00a0But it comforts me. \u00a0You see, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if a storm were to hit us tomorrow (and it nearly did last month) that we will be ok. \u00a0We\u2019ll be provided for and we\u2019ll come out stronger than before. \u00a0Why? \u00a0Because of God\u2019s unchanging, everlasting faithfulness to his children. I\u2019ve experienced trusting him when all seemed lost and then watching him come through for us when we evacuated New Orleans because of Hurricane Katrina. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span>

<\/span><\/p>\n


<\/span><\/div>\n
He is good and he is faithful and he is all that I need. Living daily with that in mind allows me to interact with frustrations with hope and a little bit of humor. \u00a0I can laugh like my girl, Prov. 31 at the days to come because I know that Jesus will be with me, every moment of every day. \u00a0He is everything I\u2019ll ever need.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n


<\/span>
So, what would Paul like, godly contentment look like for me in this season of too much stuff, too little space? \u00a0Well\u2026 I\u2019ve taken the advice of one of my mentors and re-written the passage as if it was intended for me at this very moment. \u00a0<\/span>

\u00a0Ladies and gentleman I give you Philippians 4:11-13 FHMV (Frazzled Homemaker Version)<\/span>

I\u2019m not saying this because I want you to throw me a pity party \u00a0(and frankly don\u2019t have the energy to clean that up right now), \u00a0but I have learned to be content whatever the circumstance ( no matter how disorganized, shabbily designed, or tiny I perceive my house to be) . \u00a0I know what it is to have laundry spilling out of the hampers and I know what it\u2019s like to have all my bins organized with Martha Stewart\u2019s pretty off white labels. \u00a0I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, (and I didn\u2019t have to buy it on sale at Target!), \u00a0whether we eat cereal and grapes for dinner, or I pull off a beautiful four course meal. Whether we get that place in Roxbury with three bedrooms, two bathroom, a mudroom (gasp) and stainless steel or we\u2019re in this cozy three bedroom apartment with a broken washing machine for a few more years. \u00a0I can do all this through him who give me strength (and mad organizing inspiration\u2026seriously he spoke order from chaos, he can help me speak order to \u00a0this homestead chaos).<\/i><\/span>

<\/i>This Thanksgiving I\u2019m clinging. \u00a0Not to my expectations or comfort, but to my powerful, resourceful, and wise God. \u00a0I\u2019m thankful that he is unchanging in his perfect character\u2013everlasting in his great love. I\u2019m thankful for the Holy Spirit that will give me the grace to be content. \u00a0I\u2019m thankful for his patience to wrestle with this frazzled homemaker.<\/span>

And there\u2019s nothing cliche about that<\/span><\/p>\n

:). \u00a0

Clinging to Christ,<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I don\u2019t want to be writing this blog post right now. \u00a0Don\u2019t get me wrong, I love, love, love you for being a reader, caring about my life, and stroking my creative ego\u2026 but God has been working on me this morning about writing this post and I\u2019m wrestling with him. \u00a0I have to write […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3037,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,6],"class_list":["post-48","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-homemaking","tag-motherhood"],"yoast_head":"\nPhilippians 4:11-13 (Frazzled Homemaker Version)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I don't want to be writing this blog post right now.  Don't get me wrong, I love, love, love you for being a reader, caring about my life, and\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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