I asked Martha Brooks, our Women’s Ministry Director, to tell us about the upcoming Women’s Ministry event for this week’s Pastoral Note.
Dear Cornerstone family,
This chilly February morning I find myself sitting on the hearth by a crackling fire, cup of coffee and cinnamon raisin toast beside me, air pod playing Keith and Kristin Getty quite literally into my ear, healthy daughters busy learning at the school we love, husband off at a job he enjoys, me, writing this, one of my favorite things to do. I’m surrounded by comfort and coziness.
And yet.
If I’m honest, sometimes I experience a not-quite-satisfied underlying current in my heart. Not sadness. More...discontent.
Surely, I can cure this feeling of discontent. I’ll grab my bootstraps and cultivate the right atomic habits, get rid of all my stuff, get more stuff, get outside, avoid the toxic air pollution, move to a tiny house, build a bigger garage, eat the right food, fast from all food, get healthier, eat what I want (body positivity!), get wealthier, give all my wealth to the right cause, get off the grid, go viral with my latest Pastoral Notes. Something will click. I can achieve true contentment if I can figure out the secret!
Or maybe this feeling of discontent stems from the fact that I am not home yet? That Lumsden Lane is not my permanent address? That I am created for Eden but am temporarily here, where thieves do approach and moths do destroy? (Luke 12:33) My heart rightly longs for the day Jesus will return and all will be healed. (Rev. 22:3-5) Can Christians be truly content before that day comes? Or are things too broken? Is there actually a secret?
Paul himself tells the Philippians he has learned the secret to contentment. He says we can experience contentment here in our home-that-isn’t-our-home. Paul, having lived a life of wealth and power, now reduced to an often- flogged prisoner under house arrest with a tragedy-laden pedigree (I don’t know about you, but one shipwreck would be enough to keep me on land for the rest of all time; this man has been shipwrecked three times, and keeps getting in the boat.), has learned the secret to contentment. (Not to take too much liberty with the Scriptures, but I kind of picture the Philippians all leaning in when they get to this part of the letter. Now we’re getting to the good stuff! Who doesn’t want to know the secret to contentment?! Spill it, Paul!)
Do you want to know the secret? Lean in...
Come to the Deeper Together: in Contentment event at 6:00 p.m. on February 21! (or go home and read Philippians this afternoon J) In addition to revealing Paul’s secret, we will eat delicious food, enjoy sweet fellowship, have some fun, and hear from two of our dear sisters who have experienced seasons of discontent...but are now in on the secret! Join us!
Grace,
Martha Brooks