To abound

"You know y'all are a lucky young couple right?"

- My Mom

She's almost always right and she certainly was when she said that to me last weekend during a family visit. Matt and I showed my mom and dad the new house for the first time. While the boys were doing something on their own, mom and I went into a back bedroom and grabbed Guitar Hero.

She made the comment about our luck when I asked her if she would like to play drums or guitar. It seems like a very simple thing to me . . . fake drums or fake guitar. But thinking back on pictures of my parents first years as a married couple, Matt and I are blessed indeed.

Yet, imperfect person that I am, I can find something to complain about. I can find something more to want. This is something that I'm working on - contentment. It's an attitude God wants me to have and when you thing about the definition, why wouldn't I want to have that for myself?

"Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me." Phil. 4:11 -13

"I have learned the secret ..." if only we could all learn the secret. True contentment comes naturally to very few people. We always want more.

What I find so fascinating about this verse is that he speaks of abundance as if that too is a trial we must go through. While it's a trial many people in third world countries would love to try their hand at, it's a trial that almost every American faces.

Do I know how to abound? Do I realize that all that I have is a gift from God? Do I trust him completely to take care of me, leaving behind my worries when I finish my prayers? Am I selfish and keep my success, happiness and money all to myself? Do I give enough?

Does anyone?

As I sit on my recliner with my computer in my lap, I can see many things around me that I truly don't need. I would not call Matt and I extravagant by any means. We live well within our budget and make saving money a priority. And I wouldn't say we're stingy with our money, we give to our congregation every week.

But is that really abounding in a way that God would be proud of? What's "the secret"?

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." James 1:27

I know how to abound. I know the secret. What remains is for me to do it.