Contentment and Discouragement

While reading through the first few chapters of Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry: A Personal and Practical Guide to Starting Right, I came across a few quotes that I found helpful:

*On pursuing contentment...

"If you want to survive, pursue being content with where God has you and the gifts you've been given. Stop looking over your fence into your neighbor's yard, and thank God he's using you where he has you. You've heard the adage, The grass is greener on the other side'? The truth is, the grass is greener where it's watered. So start watering your own grass" (Doug Fields, 35)

*On dealing with discouragement...

"It's easier to avoid people when we're discouraged than to invite them into our pain. We're taken by lies like, 'I can't let people see me this way,' 'Others don't want to see me this way,' and 'I can handle this myself.' I'm lonely because I avoid brothers and sisters in Christ--those I need the most and who are best able to help me. What I need the most, I tend to avoid the most" (Doug Fields, 47).

"I can't expect to be like Jesus and only experience his joy, peace, wisdom, and power. He'll also let me feel discouragement, frustration, sorrow, and heartache--just like he does" (Steve Gerali, 48).