NOVEMBER 27, Philippians 4:11

“I wish my dad liked camping like your dad does,” Sonya complained to her friend, Beth. Beth looked at the beautiful furnishings in Sonya’s home. “Well, I wish we had as many nice things as you do,” she said, “but we don’t have very much money.” The girls went on to compare and complain about their circumstances.

“I think you girls need something useful to do,” said Sonya’s mother, who was tired of their complaints. “I need to make some visits for the church visitation committee. How about coming along?” Hesitantly, the girls agreed.

At the first stop, a woman invited them in. “You’ll have to excuse this house,” said Mrs. Lee. “My kids drive me crazy. I’ll be glad when they’re all in school and I can get peace and quiet.” Motioning for her guests to sit down, she said, “I wish we had never moved to this unfriendly neighbourhood!” And for the rest of the visit, she continued to complain about everything and everybody.

When they left, Beth whistled. “Wow! I wonder if she’s ever happy about anything,” she said.

A smiling lady answered the door when they made the next call. “We’re so happy here,” Mrs. Yeo bubbled to her guests. “We’re thankful we found a loving church family so quickly.” She then went on to praise the church, the schools, and the people in their neighborhood.

“Mrs. Lee and Mrs. Yeo are so different!” exclaimed Sonya on the way home. “They moved here about the same time; their husbands work for the same company; they live in the same neighborhood; and they attend the same church. But one grumbled the whole time we were there, and the other one is happy about everything. Why is that?” “Well,” said mum, “God says we’re to think about good things. It seems Mrs. Yeo learnt to look for and think about what’s good in any situation, and Mrs. Lee has not.” “I guess not!” exclaimed Beth. “There are two ‘tents’ in which we can live,” added Mom quietly. “One is contentment, and the other is discontentment. It’s not activities or time or money that determines how happy you are. It’s which ‘tent’ you choose to live in.”

Thought: Are you living in contentment?

Prayer: I pray, Heavenly Father, to be able to live in contentment and happiness, to trust more in You and not to complain. In Jesus’ name, Amen.