Greetings Dear Ladies,
In a few moments I am hoping to greet you by video. In the meantime, please pick a flower from your garden or meadow, dress up a little and treat yourself to a fine cup of tea.
In the video below I talk about one point of contentment and the way we view it here in our little cottage. It is simply making the life for yourself that would bring a feeling of well-being. Mr. S. knew I would be at home a lot and he wanted me to create an atmosphere there which would make me delight in being home.
I sometimes think it is possible to teach contentment in such a negative way that it makes ladies more miserable than necessary. If you want to one day get married, there is nothing wrong with planning for it. If you want to have a house of your own, there is nothing wrong with having a scrapbook with ideas in it. I remember how contented I felt as a girl when I made houses out of shoe boxes and furnished them with bits and pieces of cardboard and things from the kitchen. I once wanted to design clothing, and what a contented feeling it was to draw paper dolls and dozens of clothes for them. It is okay to draw house plans, landscape plans, or design your wedding in hope of the future. There are too many negative ideas out there about contentment. It does not mean to abandon optimism or hope for the future. Contentment does not mean atrophy of the mind and heart and life. It does not mean settling for something when you can do something.
Of course there are several aspects of this subject on contentment, and I am only presenting one of them.
If this subject interests you, I'd be very happy to hear from you. Please leave a comment.
Lydia
24 comments:
Thank you for this, Lydia. I have often mixed up the concept of contentment with the idea that one must be satisfied with having their dreams even crushed, and, while I think that at times this might be true, it is not God's intention that we be passive about our circumstances. It is wonderful to be passionate about things and happily building our lives and homes, improving constantly and living in hope. Your message was timely today for me and I'm sure for many others.
Thank you for this, Lydia. I have often mixed up the concept of contentment with the idea that one must be satisfied with having their dreams even crushed, and, while I think that at times this might be true, it is not God's intention that we be passive about our circumstances. It is wonderful to be passionate about things and happily building our lives and homes, improving constantly and living in hope. Your message was timely today for me and I'm sure for many others.
Lovely video! I love the way your eyes smile. Your eyes are so very beautiful, all your wisdom, contentment and grace shines in them. I hope I did not get too personal. :)
Lydia, did you mean to write BLOG...not LOG on your opening picture?
I made this video in the evening so everything in it was darker than usual.
Dear Lady Lydia,
Thank you for your lovely web site. I’ve been a frequent reader for years, but never post comments. I tried today to post a comment about Hobby Lobby, but I don’t have a Google account. It seemed easier to simply e-mail you.
I, too, like to take advantage of Hobby Lobby’s pattern sales. If you go to their web site and click on the button at the top of the page that says “Weekly Ad”, you can see all the sales for that week. The fabric department is near the bottom of the page, just above the 40% OFF coupon. The pattern sales are always listed there. You can also sign up to have the weekly flyer e-mailed to you.
Sincerely,
Carol Wilson
No matter how often I hear about contentment, I always enjoy learning and hearing it over and over.
The video, actually hearing your words, is very helpful.
Diane, it's sad how people teach the concept of contentment, it's so depressing! As a teenager I ran away from such miserable comforters! I looked up the original Greek for contentment.:
In Philippiams 4:11 it is aurarkes, and it means self sufficient.
That's the verse that says "I have learned in whatever state I am in, to be content."
The meaning in Greek is so helpful because it enables you to figure out how to do it yourself when pressed with a responsibikity, a goal, etc.
so many naysayers when it comes to contentment because they don't really know the meaning of the word.
Dianne, i looked up "hope" also and found that how we live, Is an expression of our hope. If we do nothing, we have no hope. In Titus 2 it spells out how to live. Down near verse 13 and then says "looking for thst blessed hope" Another verse says "hope never disappoints ". I'm sure we have to have goals and work toward them and seek purpose , but I don't agree that women should just sit there in a sorry house and not expect it to be clean and repaired, etc., or thst they should be content with themselves so that they did t look for improvement.
Thank-you for your post! I especially was challenged by the part about not rushing. That is a habit I sometimes have because I feel like I have so much to do. Takes the fun out of things, that's for sure... :)
Thank you for this post. It is very timely & needed in our world. As a woman we have a choice to make our home as beautiful, as we are able. God instructs in Philippians 4:8 to think on lovely things. And your blog is always guiding us in that direction. Thank you for your commitment to God's scripture and encouragement for us to be our best for Him and our families.
Lydia, thank you so much for the word studies on 'hope' and 'contentment'. This was so helpful to me! It makes a world of difference in how we view those words. I need to share this with our daughter! Thank you, again!
Mr. S. And I took a Koine Greek study course a long time ago and I have been quite keen on the New Testament translation ever after that. It deepens the understanding. The reason people get such wacky religious ideas is because they don't look up the meanings of the words either in English or in Greek, to get a better sense of them. There is a lot of error, for example, in the teachings about submission and obedience. These two words do not mean the same thing, and the acts do not always co-exist. I see quite often teachers saying that those two words are equal and have the same meaning but they do not, and it leads to a lot of unhappiness in people's lives.
So sorry to keep posting!! … but, would you be able to share more on that topic of submission and obedience, Lydia, or to possibly provide a link to an article? I would love to be in a church where you were the pastor's wife! :)
Suzy, Tammy, Christine, I so appreciate ypur visit and your input.
I might be able to do that. I will lose votes too 😊 Is that a line from Wives and daughters? I think Lady Harriot said it in reference to an unpopular political opinion she had taken up. Maybe I can get Mr. S. To chime in on a video.
I enjoyed your video so much.
Thank you for doing them.
Linda
It would be wonderful to have a little extra 'teaching' slipped in and posted on the topic of submission. Thank you …. and to Mr. S., too!! :)
The older I get, the more content I get. Well maybe the Lord is giving me more peace and contentment follows.
Janet,, it sounds like relief from stres.
Outdoors, I did this film quite late as the last bit of sun was fading and it put me kind of in a dark corner where my skin and hair look strange. I don't normally look this unnatural. My hair is a lot lighter and my skin is a lot darker. the color of the dress was off, too.
Dear Lydia,
I have recently changed my email to another provider.
I wanted to leave a comment but am not quite sure how to do it.
So, I am emailing you my thanks for your recent video on the subject of contentment.
It is such a needed subject for today's world.
Thank you for all you do.......
Aline L.
Planning things in your life can create contentment even when those goals are not reached. There are too many negative advisors who tell people it is discontent to want to marry or have chldre, have a house, develop a talent, etc.
This is so true, Lydia! I know, firsthand. I used to even feel guilty for loving my children and husband so much, at times, as if it were idolatry! Isn't that silly and sad? When we are young, though, the naysayers can sound so 'spiritual' to us, falsely so. This topic has renewed simple joy in me in some ways and further confirmed that much of that sort of 'ascetic' teaching is not truly scriptural. Thank you! Again. :)
Dear Lydia,
This is so uplifting! Living in hope while working through problems and enjoying planning for the future...making the best of things while not settling for difficult circumstances or giving up...
Thank you for clarifying the concept of contentment in such a graceful way.
Adelaide
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