Here's a good reason to not watch any media.... Yesterday evening we were outside when suddenly we heard a huge clunk against metal followed by the classic wail. I ran to see who was hurt. I was sure someone had fallen off their bike, but no, the 4 year old was still on his bike, but his head was slammed into the van as if it were stuck! "What happened!??" I yelled. I could hardly believe my eyes... how could he miss seeing the huge 12 passenger van? But then my 8 year old son explained, "He was trying to be a bad guy escaping and he thought he would try to crash into the van." Like, I said, a good reason to not watch movies! Turns out it was way worse sounding, just like a crash on TV, but there were no life-threatening injuries. If it hadn't been so near serious, it was, as usual, very funny. He was back riding within minutes.
Yesterday seemed to be a challenge in contentment for all of us. Right after I had written about the secret of contentment! I guess I need to get them to read what I write. It's interesting to see how it shows up in the little ones right up to the Daddies. With the kids, they are extremely put-out if we get low on groceries and I don't run out right away to get them what they want. It aggravates me so much! I always tell them, "We have food." "No we don't." So then I get them to elaborate on exactly what they think is food and it always comes down to "extras" as opposed to life-sustaining food. So for example, we ran out of oranges within two days of buying them. You'd think they were without water. "We have apples, " I'll tell them. Not good enough. I cannot believe how many times I was told to go to the grocery store yesterday. I wouldn't go! I know when I want to go. It is no small task when I go, especially if it is a big shop. I can easily leave with 2 carts, so I really have to wrap my head around it. I have become quite famous in my home for making things stretch. Meal after meal, my kids will wonder where the food came from. I credit my mom for that, making something out of nothing. I always marvelled how she made a meal when I would look in the fridge and see nothing.
Last night it was maple beans, skillet cornbread and salad. Everyone quite enjoyed it, but to look in the fridge, you would have seen next to nothing, at least by my kids' standards. This morning, there is basically no fruit left, except a couple of apples, a little bit of frozen fruit, next to no eggs, no bread, but I had a plan! I had to quickly warm up the oven, then I quickly mixed up some oatmeal, eggs, milk, frozen fruit and a few other ingredients and in 45 minutes, they'll wake up to the smell of baked oatmeal! Again, if I had left it up to them coming down and looking in cupboards, they would have seen nothing! I had to cut them off at the pass. It basically smells like pie - thanks to my friend (expecting her 10th) for the good recipe idea for large families!
But, to me, it was all about their little discontent hearts. They seriously need to learn a little about lacking food to understand how full our cupboards are.
Even my husband struggles. We love the fact he is a one-man show, but there is a negative side to it...if you focus on that. So discontentment can creep in there, too. Everything is on him, the farm work, the business, getting more business, the books, raising a family, paying the bills.... it can be very overwhelming at times. I prayed for him all day yesterday as I saw he was struggling. It doesn't help that he's literally carrying 100s of pounds of steel all day, it can wear you down, not just emotionally but physically. I listened to him and then went inside and prayed, knowing he was being taught a lesson in contentment, too.
My older son came home from being at the vet clinic all afternoon. I could tell he had an agenda for the evening and it didn't concern anyone but him. He wanted to shoot some arrows (he just got some with some birthday money), read some books, just relax. But the cows were mooing, the dog was barking, and wait, what's that... at least 3 cows were loose! Someone had turned off the fence and a young one and two older ones were loose. It wasn't easy getting them back in as they were out in the long grass and were having a great time! After what seemed like a very long time and all sorts of hands on deck, we managed to get them back in. My son went to relax, but the cows were still mooing.... hungry. Now, he had to put his arrows down and pick up some heavy bales of hay and feed those cows. The dog wouldn't stop barking. He needed a walk. The tasks seemed endless! I could tell by the look on his face, he was not happy. How quick he was to forget this was the life we wanted for him, the life he wanted for himself! The hard work, the life with animals, the outdoors, but he quickly just saw it as taking away his "me" time, i.e., discontentment. It took some time for him to come around and be ok with how his evening had taken a turn and eventually the relaxation did come, it always does! Why do we have to struggle so much and instead just accept how things play out?
I could go through every test we had yesterday, but this post would go on and on, like how my other son couldn't believe I made him do dishes instead of playing or how my daughter was shocked I had her do school..... discontentment hits all ages in just different forms. Even my toddler was discontent yesterday, well, everyday really. If he doesn't get what he wants, he growls, literally, something that must be stopped!
I found another verse they'll be copying out today, "Do all things without complaining and disputing, 15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world...". Phil. 2:14
Great verse. Perhaps not a verse directly about discontentment, instead more about our attitudes when things don't seem to be going our way.
After a very long day, I was sure my husband would want to crash. It had been a hard day for him. I was already in pyjamas and ready to hit the hay. My daughter and I have decided to kick up our physical fitness a notch and had gone for a ridiculous run earlier on in the evening and have committed to working out in the morning, too, in prep for an awful 5k in 6 weeks. I'll regret this. So I knew I needed to go to bed early in order to get up early. At 9:30 my husband stopped work in the shop, came in for a shower, looked at me and said, "Get dressed. We're going out." My first thoughts were, "No way! I'm tired!" But then I remembered a woman speak at one of the homeschool conferences and she spoke on how she shut her husband down all the time when he wanted to be spontaneous and take the family out for dinner. She would say no, too expensive, leaving him disappointed as he had tried to bless her. It was one of her life regrets she said. I found myself looking at him shaking my head in awe, "Ok!" My older kids saw me go from jammies to an outfit in 2 minutes and wondered, "What is going on? Are you taking off on us? Going out of the country?" "Yup, see you later!" It was awesome. We only went out for an hour. We found a place that had half-price apps after 9pm and were home by 10:30, so fun. I still managed to get up early and my husband got a chance to debrief and unwind.
Today will have its challenges, too, no doubt. Discontentment is going to try to creep in again. Last night was a great example of how we chose to fight it and have fun in the process! Yes, it was a hard day, but by taking some time out together, we were able to identify our struggles, talk through them and thank God for His goodness amidst it all. A little calamari helped, too.
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