con·tent·ment noun kən-ˈtent-mənt
The quality or state of being content, a feeling or showing of satisfaction with one’s possessions, status, or situation.

Many words that I considered were because they might make me a better person in 2013, and who doesn’t want to be a better person? But as I wrestled with them, read about them, found Scripture for them, listened to songs about them, and prayed over them, nothing clicked. Although PRAY, SURRENDER and DECREASE are all very good things, they were all things to DO, where I fail or succeed based on my own effort. Contentment is not an action but a state of BEING. It’s not something *I* do, but something I want GOD to do. I don’t want my new year’s focus to be on something that can leave me feeling defeated before I even see the progress I desire. I know that God loves me just as I am (and so often it feels that He is the only one with that kind of selfless love that focuses on WHO I am, not WHAT I do) so this year I want to keep it simple, and just be content in who He made me to be. Content in all that He has given me. Content with the spot I am at on my spiritual journey. Not self-sufficient complacency. God-sufficient contentment.

Could I be farther down the path? Sure. But I could also be off the path completely. I want to not just live, but thrive, despite any obstacles on my path. So instead of putting all kinds of pressure on myself (which I already do way too much of) to remove every obstacle that comes along, I want to ask myself every day in 2013, how can I be content today and trust in God’s all-sufficiency to handle this? What can I do differently with any given obstacle in 2013, if I am truly content in God?