Contentment in Simplicity is Enough
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Contentment is a funny thing. One day life is simple and clear and contentment shines through the clouds like sunshine the morning after a rain. Then one day there is too much stuff or jobs or activities or possibilities and life simply gets in the way of that contentment.
Over the past couple of years I have watched many of those who blog about being a mama, a helpmeet, and a homesteader author books, start projects, and otherwise become what many would call successful.
I should be clear that I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. As someone who has created something and then offered it up for sale myself, I don’t think there is anything wrong with selling something worthwhile that one makes. In fact, I love to see people produce something and then offer it up to those who might need it.
But success, as the world defines it, has a tendency to change people, or at least their circumstances and perception. Where as once raising babies and making bread for your family was everything one needed in life, suddenly one is presented with something more, as if there was something missing in the first place.
I have been there, caught up in projects and possibilities and the ability to "be more". But be more to who? If I can’t serve my family properly and fully then who am I giving more of myself to? I don’t want to be more. I want to be content instead.
I want to rock my babies to sleep and make them breakfast when they wake up and not be in a hurry to go in completely different directions.
I want their days to be filled with memories of us gardening and caring for the chickens and hugs and kisses spread throughout the day.
I want to bake bread and sweep the floor and teach my children to read and write.
I want to be present, physically, when they ask big questions and present, completely, when they just need to sit in mama’s lap.
I want to hang laundry in the sunshine with a baby sleeping on my chest while I watch the loves of my life water newly planted seeds.
And when I can share the beauty and the fulfillment that these simple things can bring through the written word then that is just grass-fed cream cheese icing on my soaked flour carrot cake.
I want to remember that I’ll never look back and think "Man, I wish I would have spent less time caring for my family and more time chasing opportunities."
Amen! I want this too. And lately, I’ve felt the weight of being too busy, but not knowing how to stop the merry-go-round that I put myself on. I want off, but am bound by guilt of stopping. *sigh* Thank you for this post. I am a new reader and really appreciate your insights.
So true…so true.
Well said!
Beautiful!
Love it! This came at such a good time. I’m in a slightly different situation, as it’s only my husband and I (we lost our first and so far only child this past October). I stay home even though we have no kids and take care of our home, and I often feel guilty for this, like I should be accomplishing more…. always more, more, more, and go, go, go. I fight these thoughts, but still find myself consistently contemplating “chasing opportunities.” I look forward to the days when I’ll have little ones to do all the things you described above, but then I also wonder what life will be like if it’s not the Lord’s will that we have any (more) children. I need to learn to be content just at being a wife and find worth in what I do at home. Thanks for the post! God bless you and your fam! I love reading your blog!
Well said. Need this so much today!
I love this, I never knew this was what I wanted. I grew up with education being the biggest part of my life and planned my career from an early age. After I had my first son, things began to change. We decided I would stop working outside the home when I became pregnant with my second son. It was a huge financial struggle, it took a long time for me to adjust, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I really know who my children are, I’ve been able to influence them more than the media or other outside influences and now that they are adults, I couldn’t be more proud of who they are. My oldest works on seasonal farms, my youngest is in college and still living at home. I love to see this teenager go to the garden with his friends, looking for just the right produce to whip up a tasty treat for him and his friends. I love that he hasn’t watched TV in almost 2 years, I love that he is focused on a career that will fullfil him instead of one that is designed to fill his bank account. I think the thing I love most is how he doesn’t believe he is like his peers, and he wants to get them more involved in the world we live in, not stay caught up in the media driver consumer world.
Perfect. I love this and this is what I too try to live by.
Shannon,
This was absolutely beautiful and is making me cry –in a good way:)
Thank you for sharing-exactly what I needed to hear and the state of BEING that I want to Be!
Fabulous!
wanted to also say I’ve observed and felt the same thing.
When I started to think that I wanted more time in my day to write (considering this before Damien came home and how our life might change with that) I realized I would have to give up one of those things you talk about – teaching my children, cooking for and eating with my family, spending afternoons doing stuff with my kids, exercising, reading and adventuring together, etc… And then I was like, well why would I give up those things I love just so I could write about doing them!
Makes no sense.
So I’m learning to work as effectively as I can in the limits I have set for these non-family endeavors because what I most of all is to be mom.
So very well-said and heartfelt….brought tears to my eyes….
Hi. I really like the post. It is a reminder to pay attention to what is truly important in life.
For myself, I want it all. I want to be able to enjoy my children and enjoy my career. I know it is possible because I am doing that now.
I am not necessarily content with just focusing on cooking, baking, gardening, and my children. I have a passion for what I do so I would feel like I was really missing out if I just did that.
However, daily I remind myself that there is plenty of love, time, and money to go around. Coming from a place of abundance I am able to get things done that are important to me and also bask in the beauty of my children. I thank god for all my blessings.
So beautiful! It brought tears to my eyes.
Beautiful vision, Mama. You and your family are well-blessed for it 🙂
This is it!
In the rush to get to everything else, you miss the really good stuff 🙂 Feeling the pull away from it all.
Eloquent & beautifully written, thank you.
Thank you for this. Praise God for the ways He is blessing you and blessing those who read your beautiful words.
Beautiful post. This makes me realize how amazing my life is and how much I appreciate being a stay at home mom. So wonderful.
Yes! Amen.
You put what I have been feeling so eloquently. I completely relate to this.
This line really hit home: “If I can’t serve my family properly and fully then who am I giving more of myself to?” Yes, who? It’s funny how we can, at times, strive to impress or please those who we don’t even know.
Thanks so much.
So true My children are grown and I wasn’t able to do this when they were small. I am however investing greatly in my grandson.
Never a better time for this message. Although nearly 53 now and no children, I find myself dreaming of slowing down with the business, longing for the feel of rich soil in my hands from the garden and the smell of clothing fresh from the clothesline. That’s what I will do today.
I had asked Bill for a clothesline, so he made a pulley clothesline on the back porch for me. I will do laundry and garden today. Thanks Sweetie.
Love it!
Thank you so much. This is so right, and yet not often heard.
Not that you don’t already know it, but that baby is about the most fabulous thing in the whole world!
If I liked your blog before Shannon, now I love it! I feel just the same. Real, everyday life is where it’s at. Being at home with the babies makes me happier than any career ever could.
By the way, my baby sister who is just your age is also named Shannon. 🙂
This is so wonderful! I think this is something I so desperately try to convey to my Mother who seems to think I am being worked too hard….. I know she loves me, but I also know what it is that I am called to do! When I am making the bread for the week, siting to teach my little girl, or washing veggies for dinner, I am reminded how BLESSED I am to not only get the opportunity to do these things, BUT also to have the insight to recognize the jewels of memories I am making! No job or amount of money could ever obtain the joy I have from being with my little family!