Baby it's... a mess outside.

Today is March 30th. This may seem like an unnecessary statement, but if you, dear reader, could look through your computer screen and into my world, you would see not the beginnings of spring cheer, but cold, dreary, wet, wintery white stuff. Yes, there is snow laying on top of our almost-getting-green grass. *Sigh*

This morning, I was thinking about a quote from the book I'm reading, "The Misery of Job and the Mercy of God," by John Piper. It's been on my mind a lot lately. It says, "He is not poor, or much enticed / who loses everything but Christ." As a Christian woman who grew up in a Christian home, I have always heard the concept of losing things for Christ, but this concept of losing everything but Christ really caught my eye. Because unless something changes in my lifetime, I will probably never be held at gunpoint for believing in Christ. My family will probably not be murdered because they believe in Christ. Losing all for Christ, I can experience in a small way. But losing everything but Christ, now that, my dear friends, I think could easily happen.

Have you ever daydreamed about bad things that could happen to you? That sounds depressing, I know, but sometimes I hear a fire alarm, or see a fire truck on its way somewhere, and I start to think about how I would handle a situation where my house burned down, or even caught on fire, and all my material things were destroyed. I have to admit that every time I think like that I pray for contentedness, because I know that I would struggle with losing things like books, diaries, pictures, computers that have all my started projects, quilts that I've made, gifts that I'm in the process of finishing, decorations that I'm particularly fond of or hand-me-downs from my Great Grandmother. I have a strong doubt that I would be spiritually ready for something like that to happen.

I know that the root cause of my ill preparedness for such a fate is a lack of contentedness. I used to think I was very content. I quoted Paul's contentedness verse and thought that I was not too far behind him. But I know now that I was sorely mistaken. So this morning, after I read my daily devotions in Acts, I asked for help with contentedness. Because, let's face it, the world doesn't let us rest too long without showing us something else we think we really need or that we just plain want.

And so it's snowing. At a time when I check my seedlings daily to see if they've grown any, or turned greener, or if any more are lurking about under the soil, it's snowing, and cold, and windy. And I am remembering what my father told me about asking for patience. "If you pray for patience, you'd better be ready, because you don't become more patient by being in less frustrating situations." So this is my own personal trial. And I do apologize to the rest of Susquehanna County for this unusual weather :)

Here's to you, Dad. Your wisdom still hits home.