Good day everyone! Hope everyone had a great Independence Day and ate some good food as well took in some incredible fireworks. We are truly blessed to live in this nation despite all the things going on. This brings me to my thoughts...
Would we as a society have so much to complain about if instead we were a nation of completely content people? After being around the world and back in the military and traveling some afterward I have seen just how much we have compared to others. It just really makes me sad for us to not appreciate these things. We don't tend to focus on the things we have; instead we focus on what others have. It’s the same thing when others do things that hurt us…intentionally or not.
Years ago when I was a teenager in the system, my counselor once said to me: "John perhaps they did do these things wrong to you, but did that give you the right to respond in the way you did? Are they responsible for your actions?" Over the years that has stuck with me. It really stuck out to me when I was told by a person very close to me: "I'm not responsible for your emotions or feelings." I felt they said it in a way that gave them a free pass for how they had acted and treated me, but they are not directly responsible. God gave us feelings. We can hurt people physically and we can hurt them emotionally. So in a sense I do feel we are responsible for how we make people feel on the inside; however, we are not responsible for how they act out with those emotions.
God wants us to feel free and happy. No matter how many times we have done wrong...God still believes in us and continues to give us opportunities to do the right thing. I know I often let Him down but I am so happy that someone has the time to love and appreciate me in this life like that. I have not found it in people, though I have sought it, someone to love me for me. What a precious priceless gift.
Concentrating on being content has helped me take the stand in observing myself with bringing peace to anger, understanding to confusion, a warm light to a cold darkness. It is incredibly difficult but there is truly so much good feeling in it when we are there. Things of course will never be perfect but we must sort through the day-to-ay stresses of life. We must sort through the heartbreak and let go of it. It's hard to let go of such things because sometimes letting go takes practice; it takes time. It is a choice. If we rebound too quickly, do we really learn and appreciate the struggle? Oh, yes, contentment itself requires a good amount of patience, practice and prayer.
We write our own sentences in life, but God can put the punctuation on the end of the sentence. When enough sentences are gathered, we have what we call our very life... our story. Just as a soldier enjoys living through the battle, he also sees the war ahead still goes on.
Contentment: Absorb it. Let it fill you. Let it put you in check to help you realize that God is beside you as if carrying a flag in support of you.
Last time I wrote I spoke of the little things... Did any of you identify with some of them? I challenge you to find appreciate and contentment in your hunt to discover those small things. I can't speak for others but I can for myself and I know one thing beyond any other... I want to live with the ability to notice the small things, for it’s all the small things that work together to bring contentment. Besides, what’s small to me may be someone else’s big blessing! Join me next week as I share about doing a small thing that became somebody’s big source of encouragement!
Anyhow, much love everyone... May you have a great week until I catch you next time!
~John Tam
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