Learning Contentment and the Lure of Legos

Psalm 16:5-8
5 LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup;
   you make my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
   surely I have a delightful inheritance.
7 I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;
   even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I keep my eyes always on the LORD.
   With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
 

“Please, momma.  Just one small box of Legos?”

A vision of our basement flashed before me, overwhelmed with toys. The floor was covered with bricks of every imaginable color.  Half-built buildings sat abandoned, mini-figures forgotten.  As I stood in the check-out line with a child in tow, I knew the answer for more must be no.

The struggle to accept what we have as “enough” is as old as the earth itself.  We are often more aware of what others own than we are of what we have ourselves.  We see bigger homes, nicer cars, calmer kids, happier days in the lives of those all around us.  But the blessings flowing through our own days and nights goe unnoticed, unseen, unappreciated.

Psalm 16:5-6 offers wisdom that can help us to settle right where we are.  Our lives are surrounded by beautiful boundaries that are just right for us today, especially when our gaze falls not on others, but on the Giver of all good things.

Because:
• My dinner may not be fancy, but there is food on my family table. 
• My clothes may have seen better days, but I am warm and comfortable.
• My home may not be beautiful, but it is protection and shelter for those within.
• My budget may be tight, but my purchases are planned and needed.
• My children may not be perfect, but our life together is a journey of ups and downs I get to travel each day.

These boundary lines are drawn in perfect places--perfect for me, perfect for them, perfect gifts from God above.  And, in reality, what I need more than anything else is what God offers freely to me.  Grace upon grace.  Salvation from my sins.  His love, sufficient for me.  Knowing this, my cup overflows.

Today, let’s focus on the gifts and not on the neighbors, on the blessings and not the deficiencies.  Let’s talk with our children, teaching them to think less about acquiring and more about appreciating so that they, too, can learn to see the hand of God freely offering us what we need today. 

Nothing more.  Nothing less.  Just enough.