Today = A time I felt most satisfied with my life.
*First off, reading this prompt immediately brought Hamilton lyrics to my mind...
"And I know she'll be happy as his bride!
And I know he will never be satisfied;
I will never be satisfied!" *
Moving on... this one is making me think.
Dictionary.com says that to satisfy means to fulfill the desires, expectations, needs, or demands; to bring full contentment. I'm not certain any of us will be fully and truly "satisfied" with everything until we get to heaven, and that is okay. God tells us that everything we experience here is "partial and incomplete," and I think it's damaging when we believe that if we chase something hard enough, we will reach total satisfaction here on earth. We should recognize and remind ourselves that love, marriage, children, work, friendships, ministries, pets, possessions, etc. are all wonderful gifts from God that are absolutely not meant to complete us or define us or fully satisfy us.
The above verse also came to mind as I was thinking about this. We can feel true contentment and peace when we put God in His rightful place and allow our minds to trust and rest and stop worrying. We can practice being grateful and cultivate more and more joy as we go along in life. I have come a long way on feeling content in my singleness. I had to work to cultivate that, but the progress has been worth it!
I don't know that I have one specific answer here that will make much sense. I feel "most satisfied with my life" when I'm having a really good, deep relational conversation - feeling mutually known and loved and valued. (It's part of why I felt drawn to counseling, but the dynamic would be so very different there. With motherhood, we could eventually reach this dynamic when the child grows up, and the years of teaching and learning and building up to it would make it that much richer.) There are moments with God that fit this for me, and there are moments with Mom, Dad, Rach, Jenny, Josh, Malori, Chet, Jeff, Bobbi, Laura, Kristin, Elizabeth, Ashley, etc. that fit. Rich, satisfying, memorable, wonderful moments of connection characterized by love and joy and depth; yet I'm so aware that they are all partial, incomplete, fleeting, and temporary. And that's okay. John Eldredge has helped me to embrace the concept that all the love and joy we feel here on earth is meant to be an awesome sneak preview to keep our hearts alive to the hope of heaven... a place where God's presence and goodness permeates the atmosphere, where the norm is solid, unwavering community where we are all fully known and fully loved and fully secure and forever connected and truly satisfied through Christ!! #yesplease #getexcited
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