One thing I’ve learned first hand, and observed over the past few years in connecting with other parents who have lost a child is this:

A content heart amidst a storm is a powerful thing!

Often times we live in the ‘if only’ scenarios:

If only I could stay at home with my kids…

If only we made more money…

If only I could get pregnant…

If only my baby would sleep through the night…

If only my kids were all in school…

If only I could send my kids to a different school…

If only I could live somewhere else…

If only my child would not have died…

If only… then I’ll be content. 

We’ve all been there, we’ve all had those thoughts. But what I’ve come to realize is that God calls us to be content (a state of peaceful satisfaction) amidst the storms.

While it may not be easy, one thing is certain, if you can find contentment in your current storm, you can break fear of the future; as Proverbs 31:25 says, “she can laugh at the days to come…”

Sometimes God allows storms as a way to show His power. He allows storms to show His glory and his peace. He allows storms because He wants to show us there is a better way to live. He even allows storms to protect us.

Are you in a season of waiting, a season of grief, in the middle of a storm?

I’d encourage you to pray for one thing… Lord teach my heart to be content.

One of the quickest ways to a content heart is setting healthy boundaries and guarding our hearts.

A content heart is a guarded heart.

Proverbs 4:23 “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

We are told to guard our hearts, because everything we do and say is an overflow of what is in our hearts. Take some time and ask yourself these questions…

1. Who do I need to guard my heart from (friends, family, neighbors)?
2. What things do I need to guard my heart from (Facebook, Instagram, other social media, T.V. shows, magazines, etc.)? How do those things make me feel about myself?
3. Who and What do I need to surround myself with? Who and what will speak life? Encourage my heart? Believe in me? Inspire me? Challenge me? Bring out the best in me?

The key to a content heart is a guarded heart. The key to a guarded heart is who and what you allow into your life.

Now this may seem harsh (or even insensitive) to those who are not encouraging or supporting you, but let the Lord deal with them. Often times in deep grief, the energy that we may have had to filter out the negativity is gone, that energy is required to survive the day to day. So what may have possibly seemed ‘selfish’ in the past is actually now ‘self care’. Those who love you and want what is best for you will realize this and maybe even learn to establish boundaries for themselves.

Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout the day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life, then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will make the answers known to you through Jesus Christ.

So keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts of every glorious work of God, praising him always. Follow the example of all that we have imparted to you and the God of peace will be with you in all things.

Philippians 4:4-9