You're Gonna Miss This

"County and state fairs are over. School has resumed. Garden plants are fading away...before long, having my morning coffee on the porch so I can listen to the neighbor's rooster welcome a new day will be a thing of summers past.  As I looked down into Brut's  perpetually sad eyes, I realized the he too, will miss these mornings.  And it made me feel a little sad; and even though there are 36 summer-days left before the first day of fall...I started missing summer..."    

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I looked around my front porch and wondered out loud "What in the world am I  going to do with all these flowers?" I glanced over at the geranium I somehow salvaged from last summer, the pitiful looking fern which needs to be transplanted, and then to the plant my middle daughter inherited from her first real job. And then I sighed - it was a sigh of wistfulness; or maybe it was discontentment. Nonetheless, I had a sudden yearning for more than 36 still-to-come days of summer 2016. Beyond the shadow of a doubt I am going to miss my front porch writing sessions. Don't get me wrong, I love fall...but the older I get the more I appreciate the perks of summer.     

And then, as it tends to do, my mind drifted to the Bible. Particularly, to Philippians 4. I'm pretty sure verses 11 and 12 could read: "Hey there, Coach Kelly! Don't you know that you ought to be content and appreciate life daily, no matter the season?" And again, I sighed - but this time it was one of self-exasperation for being called out. 

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Picture This:

The Apostle Paul had been jailed, beaten, stoned, and shipwrecked for sharing his faith in Jesus as the Messiah. Yet he claimed to be content no matter what state (or season) he was in. How is that even possible? How can someone who was literally beaten up for what he believed still continue to believe, let alone be content while promoting his faith?  But I love reading about his passion for the journey and about his conversion - you know, the 180 degree turn-around he made after he met Jesus? In 1 Timothy 6:6-8 he reminds us that if we have food and clothes, we should be content...because we didn't bring anything into the world and we surely aren't taking anything out! Like ouch dude!

I guess Paul was saying that true contentment must be based upon more than what we own.  But does he really mean that all we need to be content is the very basic needs of life - just food and clothing? Is all the other stuff just 'perks' then?  Jesus said in Luke 9:58 that He didn't have a place to lay His head (down here anyway) while most of us at least have shelter! Shouldn't that make us even more content then?

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Fast Forward to 2016:
There are a lot of things vying for our attention while, at the same time, creating discontentment. Credit card companies make living beyond our means too easy but paying them off too hard. Television programs show us the best (and the rest) of what the world has to offer...while romanticizing a fake life. Friends and co-workers put on the facade of having it all. But...what are the chances of us learning to be content even if the worst case scenario suddenly became our reality?  Could we learn to be content with what we have while striving, on purpose, to make the most of this beautiful life we are living? 

But What if:
   We learn to be content with what we have?
   We trust God to provide when we can't see the way clearly?
   We really were reduced to just the clothes on our backs?
   We really were uncertain of  our next meal's origin?

What if...when we we hear the song "You're Gonna Miss This," today was the day that came to mind? Have we given it the chance it deserves? Are we content living just for today?

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Hey y'all, have a blessed Wednesday, 

In Christ with love and compassion,

Coach Kelly

#YourLifeCoachingWV; #BeyondTheMirror; #WVStrong