The Secret

I would love a Lexus SUV. I like designer clothes. And my husband and I have started the designs for our “dream home” in the sweet by n’ by.

But that is not WHO I am. Those things could never be ME. The moment my identity becomes part of something I drive, a place I live or clothes me or my kids wear then I’ve got some serious self-butt-kicking to do.

Somewhere along this journey of life, I made a choice that I could have things but I would not let them have me.

Maybe it’s because I grew up without most of those things and I was still happy. Or maybe because I had some of those things later in life (well, not the Lexus) and I realized it didn’t change a thing. Maybe it’s even because I had the privilege of living for a year in a little village in Mexico where NO ONE had those things but they were some of the most content and generous people I have ever met.

Whatever the reason, I am glad that what I have, what I don’t have and even what I do for a living doesn’t define who I am.

The choice to be content is one I have to remake sometimes, especially when the temptation to compare creeps into my life! And when that happens, I fall back on THE SECRET.

“I have learned THE SECRET of being content in any and every situation. Whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. THE SECRET is I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME.”

The author of this verse was writing it from a jail cell where he was falsely imprisoned yet still was content. It makes driving a used mini-van and buying clothes from Target seem almost glamorous! Wow, I have SO much to be grateful for. So much to be content with.

Well, that’s pretty simple. THE SECRET is out.

*But if you were planning on blessing us with a Lexus SUV, please feel free to. I would be content with that too.