"There is no distance on this earth as far away as yesterday."

She said, "Wherever you are, be all there."

What a profound statement.... "Wherever you are... be all there."

A lot of life has been lived since I first heard those words resonate in my heart. There have been many highs and lows, many tears and victories... and still,  (I'll be honest) I battle with living out this Godly counsel and learning what it means to be content.

Learning to be content. Sounds easy right? I pray this is easy for you. For me? Yeah, not so much. No.. I am not saying that striving to be content in every circumstance means I want or have to be happy all the time. In fact, I am convinced that I wouldn't learn as much throughout life if this were the case. I do mean however,(for myself) that learning to be content means being confident of God's leading in my life (in every situation that may come my way). In this statement I find my obstruction in my path because I love to plan.

Now don't get ahead of me. I don't believe that all planning is bad. In fact, many times it leads to a healthy drive. The problem lies when we start planning without God's counsel. That is (unfortunately) where my problem exists. I tend to get ahead of myself concerning the future and forget to consult the Lord as to what His direction is for me. I don't know if you have the same problem but I tend to get anxious about my future when certain questions are thrown my way. When returning home after a long semester at school, I am most commonly asked the following questions (most often from the Church). These conversations tend to go something like this:

"Hello Hannah!(Please fill in the blank if this is you) It is so great to see you! I trust that you have been doing well. (Here is where the conversation turns) So, I hear you are studying ___________. (Question #1) What then have you decided to do after you graduate? (I give my answer then stop knowing that a few more questions are headed my way...yep and here they are!) Oh well that is very exciting! So, do you have any prospects? (Question #2! contrary to what you may be thinking... this question does not pertain to prospects of a job...but instead a "companion". So I again I give an answer thinking maybe if I talk about job prospects I can get out of it! Oh no... people are pretty persistent, which results in Question #3). Oh that's great honey! Have you met anyone? (Yep question number three....can't escape it. However it may be asked... it seems the question always pops up. So I answer and pray that either the music from the Praise Band will start OR I can see someone far in the distance to talk to, because I know that some of these questions I honestly have no definitive answer to)."

Now, I don't mean to mention this for alternative motives or even to excuse my dilemma of excessive planning, but I can tell you it starts me thinking about all the things I may not have lined up in my life. I might as well face it.... I'M OLD! Heck, I'm 20 years old and might as well be deadbeat spinster (please catch my sarcasm)! Seriously though, these expectations start to become the basis of my anxiety. So thus, I plan. I get anxious and try to go about things in a way so that I might have a great answer to these questions.

I pray that this problem is only me, but if it's you...we have to stop. There are many ways in which we find discontentment in our lives. Often the world tells us that we need to be successful (in their terms), we have to get ahead, or to worry about the future, BUT God's word tells us to

Do everything in the name of the Lord, giving thanks to Him (Colossians 3:17).

Not to worry about tomorrow because tomorrow will worry about itself (Matthew 6:34)

That

Many who are last, are instead first (Matthew 19:30)
To become great we must serve instead of be served (Mark 10:43-45)
By prayer and petition we are to present our requests to God (Philippians 4:6)

By learning to be content we find that...
-We will live with less regret knowing we made the most of our "today's"
-We will be able to enjoy life no matter what situation we are being pulled through
-We will be able to enjoy others that surround us
-We are appreciative of what we have in this moment...today
-We will find peace in God's plans and direction for our lives

Though true, a lot of life has been lived since I heard the worlds of Kate Davelaar saying "Wherever you are..be all there" I've had my content moments and... my plans. Today I pray God continues to mold and change the hearts who are on this journey together. Lets trust God's provision and stay in today.

May it be said that we live a life of true contentment.