The intersection of contentment and calling....

As I have continued to ponder the idea of contentment, I have wondered abut the place that contentment and calling intersect.  I wonder if my sense of contentment has to do with my growing sense, after 50 years of wandering in this world, of my vocation before God.  I am called to be His daughter and heir.  I am called to be a wife, mother, and grandmother, daughter and sister.  I am called to be a teacher.  Doing each of those things makes me happy.  Is that because I am following my calling, after all? I also like quilting, gardening, reading and music.  I do all those things in measure as well.  There is something powerful about following one's vocation, because it means going with the grain of our creation.  It is soothing, smooth, unique and beautiful.

But I always find myself wondering, am I feeling so content with these things not because they are my calling, but because I like them and doing them makes me more comfortable?  I mean, who wouldn't want to be well provided for, have a wonderful friend as a husband, enjoy ones family, teach and enjoy watching children learn, sit under excellent teaching in church, and garden and quilt in their spare time?  That is a blessed dream of a life.  Am I just comfortable and complacent, and naming all this my "calling" so I can indulge in all this comfort?

I hope not.  I have seen God move me out of my comfort zone time and again.  So I will be at peace where I am.  He has given me many callings in my life.  I can pursue them with vigor because He has made me to do them.  And I don't need to feel guilty about enjoying my life.  Instead, I can rest in my Lord, knowing He will move me along at the right time and in the right season.  And while I will keep watch for that move, I will live right here, right now, as He desires me to: with joy and peace.