Beyond Common Sense

Last fall my husband and I had a wonderful get-away-time at Cape May, NJ.  It was in October, so the beach was very quiet.  Our hotel sat right on the beach which gave us a side view of the ocean.  (Front view rooms were way too expensive. I really think the hotel should have been called The Ugly Duckling, as it sat there kind of squatty and plain among all the beautiful mansion-type bed and breakfasts!)

We SO enjoyed the beach – in fact, dear husband came back from an early morning walk with SEVEN conch shells in his pockets!  What a treasure!  We rented bikes, toured the local historical sites, and had a WONDERFUL RESTFUL escape.

On one of our excursions, we visited a little shop called “Tea by the Sea.” It was a mix of two shops: the one was totally tea and everything to do with tea; connected to it was a second-hand shop.  Now I had been on the lookout for a new tea-pot for about a year, since the one my wonderful son-in-law purchased for us several years ago was starting to crack.  This shop had every kind of teapot you could imagine: beautiful and expensive.  I didn’t really mind the prices because this was to be my sweet reminder of our time there in years to come; but…I couldn’t find one that just jumped right off of the shelf – you know what I mean.

So, as I’m perusing the vast array of teapots, out comes hubby with that grin that I love so well – it says, “Guess what I found?”  In his hands, which he has hidden behind his back, is my teapot!   It’s exactly what I would like.  It’s country, not showy like the others.  I suppose it’s used or it wouldn’t be back there.  Someone grew tired of the round little teapot imprinted with a blue country heart (SO outdated!), which made me love it even more.  Every time I use it, it reminds me of a wonderful memory just as much as an expensive teapot would have done!  I’m content.

Do you look around your nest and see only hand-me-downs – old stuff that’s seen better days?  Do those things steal away your contentment?  Then you can understand what God meant when He wrote: “But godliness with contentment is great gain (1Timothy 6:6).” Great gain!!!  You can be RICH in character thanks to all your junk!  Praise the Lord!  Try it!  Love that stuff you have. And when it’s time to replace it, God will provide something much better than you ever could , if you will allow Him!  (Remind me to tell you about the two dollar gray pin-striped suit sometime!)