One of the biggest lessons I think Micah and I have learned in our wonderfully wonderful first four months of marriage (as of yesterday) is the importance of being content. You would think that being content at this point in our lives would be easy for us since we are happily married, have a cozy little apartment together, eat good food every day, have loving and supportive families, both have jobs, and have plans for an upcoming moving adventure to Philadelphia this March. However, contentment is something that has been a struggle for us recently. Specifically, contentment with our current work situations, Micah's in particular. Having recently graduated from BIOLA University with a 3.9 something GPA and plenty of work and internship experience in his field, political science/pre-law, we both expected that Micah would somewhat easily be able to find a position that related, at least a bit, to his degree. However, after two months of submitting what seemed to be a hundred applications and two or three interviews in which we found out that Micah was only one of about two thousand applicants, we discovered that finding a job, let alone one that relates to his interests in any way or met our expectations of pay, was going to be extremely difficult.
At this point, Micah, and admit that I too, was starting to become frustrated and disheartened at his lack of job prospects. Micah would be at home all day during the week working on applications, grocery shopping, cleaning, writing thank you notes and doing whatever else he could find to keep himself feeling productive. Although these were all helpful things, it quickly began to wear on him. We decided that Micah had better branch out further and start submitting more applications to less-than-desirable places to work (i.e. furniture stores, Target, WalMart, etc.). Thankfully, my job was able to support us through this time. I have had to learn to be content with my own work situation as well, since it is far from my dream job, but it pays well and has been an extreme blessing to us, but that is another story.
During this time, the importance of relationships has been key as after these couple months of job searching, Micah was asked to help two different acquaintances with their small businesses, one in general construction and the other in landscaping. Between these two jobs, Micah was averaging about twenty-five to thirty hours a week, enjoying feeling productive, and learning some new skills - all things we were very thankful for. However, still feeling the need to have consistency and certainty in his schedule and paycheck, we continued to pursue different job opportunities, whatever they may be. Then, a call from WalMart. To be honest, I was not excited about him interviewing for this job as I felt it was below him, below us (as you can see, pride is also something I struggle with from time to time). My attitude was, "WalMart, really God?" I avoid shopping there so I definitely had it in my mind that I did not want my husband working there, BUT, we also knew that consistency was needed and so an interview took place later that week. Two weeks later, Micah began working as a full-time associate in the electronics department. Although we considered this a blessing, neither Micah or I loved the reality of it. After his first paycheck, we decided we liked it even less when we found out he was actually making a dollar less an hour than he was originally told.
When Micah discovered this, he was visibly upset. Immediately, I recognized the need to no only let go of my pride about "what we deserve", because we don't actually deserve anything, but also the need to encourage and support my husband in the truth of God's purposes, since he obviously did not like this situation any more than I did. After praying together that day and thanking God for His many blessings and asking Him to give us contentment in every situation, we have since began to change our attitudes and learn what it means to truly be content. It is not enough for us to be content with just the good things in our life, and there are many, but to be content in EVERY situation, even WalMart. That is much harder. I want everyone to understand, though, that we do realize there are thousands of people who do not have a job at all and they have been looking much longer than Micah did, but we all have issues, and as I said before, this is one of our issues. God is gracious, though, and He understands this about us. He may not let us remain in our sin, but He does understand it and even helps us to change. This is something I am incredibly grateful for. Learning to be content is a continuous process, but it does pay, and it pays much better than a job at WalMart, or so-and-so Construction, or anywhere else for that matter. It pays in joy.
Also, we have just recently been discovering that practicing genuine contentment even has the potential to change your situation, not every time of course, but as God sees fit for His glory. It is amazing to me how God sometimes chooses to bless and reward our obedience to Him despite the fits we can throw in the process. As Micah and I have just recently chosen (yes, we must choose it) to be content with his current work situation, not only has God rewarded us with joy and peace, but also the potential for another job, for which Micah as a "walk-through" this Friday. This particular job, just this Monday, came out of the blue in a call from our landlord, a lady who has already been a blessing to us in that she, upon meeting us for the first time, decided to lower our rent "just because". To give you a little background, she (our landlord), her husband, and her son own a few different apartment complexes as well as a couple different small businesses around San Diego. In her call to Micah, which was meant to just be about replacing our recently wayward fridge, turned into a much longer conversation (as they always do) which consisted of various friendly questions about how we are doing, where we are working these days, and if we have health insurance. You know, the usual things you talk to your little, old landlord lady about. During the conversation when Micah revealed that he is working at WalMart, her immediate response was to say that she might have a better job for him with one of her companies. Might I mention that it pays well, is full-time, has normal weekday hours, and includes benefits (currently I am the only one with health insurance)! Needless to say, we are in awe of God's perfect timing and excited about this possibility. We will find out for sure either way on Friday, but as it stands now, it is looking like a "go". Whatever happens, though, whether this job is a go or no-go, we are determined to be content - in obedience to Christ and in pursuit of our own joy for His glory.
Situations like this, in which God so evidently works on our behalf, almost make me feel ridiculous for having ever worried or been discontented in the first place. He promises to provide and "work things out for the GOOD of those who love Him", so why is it so hard to act on that promise sometimes? I believe it and even encourage others to believe it, but turning belief into action is always the difficulty. I feel like I have heard this same lesson hundreds of times, but I
obviously needed the refresher. Obedience is the primary way we demonstrate our love for God and contentment in our current situations is one thing He asks of us. My
goal, in waiting for job results this week, and in the midst of less-than-desirable situations in the future, is to first be content and then be expectant. Content, simply because I am called to do so, and expectant, because contentment pays.
"O taste and see that the LORD is Good: blessed is the man that trusts in Him". Psalm 34:8
"...For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. 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. I can do all this through him who gives me strength." Philipians 4:11-13
