2016: Contentment

In lieu of New Year's Resolutions, each year I pick a word that I focus on for that year.  This year the word has been Contentment.  My word in 2015 was Joy and Contentment was really a byproduct of focusing on the word Joy for an entire year.  Joy isn't found in circumstances, it's found in the strength I receive from the Lord.

If you ask most people, they will tell you they are ready for 2016 to be over.  The political chaos that ensued during this year's Presidential election was enough to make me want to hide under my bed.  In reflecting on my past year, I have to say that I truly did feel contentment even in the most "non" content circumstances.

For the first time this year, I was privileged to be on three launch teams for new books from Lifeway - Looking for Lovely, The Gospel of Mark, and Giddy Up, Eunice.  My participation in these teams has now garnered me the role of a Lifeway Women's Ambassador, which may just be the closest I'll get to being an Ambassador of any kind.  Aside, I always thought it would be the coolest thing to be a Disney Ambassador, but I digress.  Each of these books focused my perspective on the right things.  My devotional life and time spent with the Lord has greatly improved over the last two years and this was aided by my reading and studying with these books.  Contentment is easier for me when I'm clinging closer to the Lord.  Sounds cliche.  Sounds like that Sunday School answer.  I know, you are rolling your eyes.  But really, it's true.  You can't just conjure up contentment.

My dream came true this year of being a guest on a Podcast - What Should I Read Next.  You take a podcast about reading and have me as a guest to talk about it and I think I may have died and gone to Heaven!  I've become more and more obsessed with reading and even joined the online Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club that is led by the host of What Should I Read Next, Anne Bogel.  Reading is my happy place.  I find contentment curled up in my recliner reading and escaping from the world.  As of this post, about 24 hours before the end of 2016, I've read 32 books with a challenge of reading 25.  I'll be upping my goal for 2017 and hoping I blow it out the roof!

You may think with all this goodness, surely it was easy to be content.  But come September, circumstances changed.  The end of the month, my boss announced his resignation.  I'd worked with him for years, but only a couple as my boss.  The news was jarring and I knew would be life changing.  This all occurred during the last week of September, my birthday week.  I couldn't help but think back a year prior when I was celebrating my Golden Jubilee and life was grand.  Not so much this birthday.  His departure meant I would be inheriting more responsibility, which was challenging.

October brought a new boss, which I really do love, and lots of changes as we began to turn our division around.  The reality of all the things we should have been doing but weren't became abundantly clear and some things had to be torn down to be rebuilt.  It seemed daunting but I felt I was up for the task.

The beginning of November, the day after the election to be exact, my company suffered the largest workforce reduction in their history - 25%.  Our local office had 9 folks that were laid off, while headquarters had such a large number they did it as one large group.  Along with another Director in my office, we had to administer the layoffs.  I've been on both sides of that table before - being laid off and doing the deed - neither side is pleasant.  Not only had we just adjusted to a new leader and many changes, we were about to really see life change.

Since that time, I've absorbed the duties of a complete employee.  I knew about 50% of what he did, and how to do about 30% of his job.  I've spent the last two months figuring his job out.  I'm getting there, but really feel like a CIA agent uncovering what has to be done and how to do it.  I also lost an employee that resigned in December.  It was hard to see her go as I don't have a lot of turnover on my team voluntarily, but one of our competitors recruited her.  Now we're in process of hiring a replacement.

The last three months of this year proved to be a real challenge to my contentment.  I lost sleep, worked long hours, constantly dreamed about work, but yet, I can say, I'm content.  There is a reason why I'm here.  I recalled when my company was first acquired and I begged and cried out to God "why didn't you take me out of this company?"  Five years later, I see His Hand on why I'm there, even in all the turmoil we're in right now.  Learning comes in the struggles.  If life was a bowl of cherries, we'd never know the need for God, or contentment.  If life was perfect, contentment wouldn't even be something we strive to achieve.  

I've seen God's Hand even in the last 3 months to encourage me that He's at work.  Our company had a holiday shutdown starting December 22 and it may have been the greatest thing to happen to us in years.  We all needed a mental break.  We needed physical rest.  But what I know now and hope I remember long into 2017 and beyond, is that my circumstances don't define my contentment.  If God is near (and, newsflash, He is), then I am content.  

With 2017 approaching, I'm looking forward to the new year, like I look forward to a fresh clean notebook ready for thoughts to be penned.  I'm pretty confident in my 2017 word, but I'll reveal that in the new year.  It's making me excited already to think about what focusing on a new word will bring in 2017!