Contentment

I think one of the striking things I learned from this trip was the reality of contentment. In the western world we have such a skewed view of what is necessary for contentment in life. What I witnessed in the Haitian villages (bateys) of the Dominican Republic were people who were experiencing contentment in relationship with God and others. The joy on the childrens faces was iluminating for all of us. They were content in their circumstances and gave to us a joy that filled us up every day we were there.

The picture above shows a street (dirt road) in the bateys. I'm wondering what that road looks like today, as the remnants of a hurricane blew through the Dominican Republic last week. Can you imagine the mud and muck. Yet the pictures in my mind in the midst of that mud, show faces filled with contentment, children playing in the rain, getting a special shower for their bodies. When I think of the rains that will definitely come our way this fall in the northwest, there is another attitude that comes over me, not one of contentment. God is speaking to me about this; how about you?