Picky, Picky: A Culture of Contentment

Culture clash in my head today, combined with a little guilt.

Our electricity has been out more than usual lately. Now, down here it's unreliable at best on a good day... largely due to the fact that a big chunk of the population illegally taps into the community power supply and doesn't pay for power. So the company shuts off the service intermittently to offset those costs and keep prices a little lower for those of us who DO pay (since we are actually therefore paying for all of the tagalongs, too). The downside: People who actually pay for uninterrupted electricity often go without any for several hours a day. Not to mention that people whose jobs depend on having electricity (factory work, computer work, etc.) get a smaller paycheck and couldn't afford to pay their electric bill even if they had any inclination to do so.

In any case. We think maybe they switched up our schedule or the circuit we're on, because the outages have changed, and we're going on battery inverters or turning on the generator for several hours a day, several times a day, just to keep work moving around here. Which is expensive...not to mention kind of disruptive and irritating.

But the truth of the matter is, those alternative power sources are a huge blessing! We have it pretty good, and where I sit I hardly feel the outages. Nope, I've got no fan for a few hours, no functional outlets in my bedroom. But...I still have internet, of all things.

However... I'm catching myself complaining a lot lately, if only internally. Ugh, I have to move ALL THE WAY out to the other room to find an outlet to charge my computer (or whatever other electronic device my life happens to depend on at the moment)?  Whyyy am I roasting to death without a breeze? Biggest complaint: It's just not convenient!

Lyndi, take a chill pill. What would you do if we didn't have the inverter at all?

Heh! Proof provided: I, my friends, am an American who is WAY too used to having things exactly how she wants them. I'm also a missionary living in a third-world country, but among other Americans... so our lifestyle is by far not USA standard, but it's also waaaaay better than the majority of the people around us. My little grumblefests are actually only doing me damage.

In US culture we have the right to be picky.

• We can be picky about what we eat. (This one's been a big deal for me here since I trained myself for several years to be super picky for health reasons. Here, I pretty much never get  a choice because I pretty much don't do any of my own shopping. And US grocery stores may be one of the things I miss most!)
• We can be picky about standards at our jobs, and communication systems there. (Down here, it takes three attempts with the local services to actually get something fixed. At least. Because you can guarantee it won't be done right the first time. Email is not effective. Everyone is always late.)
• We can be picky about our cars. (Welp, got rid of that concern when I left Maizie in the US!)
• We have the right to complain if the electricity doesn't work. (Already kinda demonstrated how that one looks!)

"Have it your way" isn't just a slogan... It's a lifestyle. It's an expectation and even an entitlement complex we should think a little bit more about living without.

I'm living on the grace of those around me. I'm on a support budget, but I have plenty of space and live here with nice people who work super hard to keep it in shape, and moving forward. We're actually pretty progressive, given the resources at our disposal.

It's me and my expectations that need to change.

I'm not saying it's bad to have an opinion, desire to make improvements... or want to be comfortable. If things are broken, we should fix them-- it's part of that stewardship thing in Scripture. So where do I draw the line between "finding myself content in whatever situation" and falling into a lapse of desire to actually make things better? How is contentment different from stagnation and apathy... which actually can lead to depression? How can I lose my "right" to have things "new and improved"... but maintain a healthy desire and interest in developing an environment or system that supports creativity, given the resources I do have available to me? I'm still working on the answers to those questions. What I do know is that I don't want to demand to have things "my way" at the expense of "the narrow way." We don't need to depend on creature comforts for our contentment.

I didn't move to the tropical mission field to have everything convenient, just for me. Jesus didn't say that "going" was going to be comfortable all the time. If I complain, I'm really only doing myself damage.

And I guess that's why I'm writing this...to remind myself and maybe you in the process that on the days when the lights go out, the drain gets plugged, you get a flat tire, the city hasn't repaired that pothole yet, your favorite shirt is at the cleaners', you can't find the other shoe, you got stuck at that red light again, and you're all out running late... the opposite of that miserable grumbling complaint is gratitude.

Stop for a second, take a deep breath, and tell God thank you. Ask him to replace your complaint with an attitude of gratitude. There is a sun in the sky, even if it's behind clouds. You have a car. You've got freedom to travel (and numerous other freedoms not celebrated often enough until they're lost). There are people who care about you. You're not hungry and starving somewhere else. You are alive and kicking and it is a new day, without (m)any mistakes in it yet. His mercies are new every morning, and that new song of joy He's promised is throbbing with its gentle hum, just waiting for your thankfulness to awaken it to play in your ears.

If you want, comment below: What are you thankful for today?