My stomach hurt a little. I was hungry. Dinner was sparse, but thankfully our daughter didn’t notice because we put all the best food on her plate. Life had been this way for about a week and we expected to be struggling financially at least another. Due to travel for unforeseen family deaths, ministry travel, and irregular monthly giving, our semester teaching in Southeast Asia had been financially strained. It was December—nearly Christmas and our daughter’s birthday. We were unsure how it would work to feed our family and meet financial obligations, let alone purchase gifts. 

Naturally, we were dealing with discouragement. However, we also experienced a God-given contentment because our hearts were united in facing this challenge. 

How strange, because only a few years earlier we were never hungry, we rented a spacious flat, and we worked our “dream jobs” in the country of our choice. We had plenty of food, friends, a business that served our community well, and a leadership role in our organization. We also had a growing distrust in God and a feeble marriage. Several years of constant doing meant little time for being with God and each other in genuine, refreshing ways. Because of flashy results, we were praised for “ministry success” when we were leading such dry, hollow lives. We tried to find contentment in doing our work better and adding nice things to our home–in everything except a restful relationship with our Creator. We did not feel safe to share how we were really doing or to ask for help. Having what we’d always wanted was damaging because we lacked the one thing that truly mattered: a healthy life foundation. Inevitably we crumbled, but God in his relentless love lifted us from the ashes and made us new. 

It was difficult and slow making changes, but several years later we were serving in a new situation. Doing work we had never considered was an adjustment, but a welcome one as we had meaningful time with God and in our marriage. We loved who we were growing to be as a family. Work became the outflow of a solid life foundation in Christ—one that could not be altered by circumstances. 

Nothing was perfect, but we were content.