Today's post was written by Lorraine Strohbehn

Today’s guest post is by my mom, Lorraine Strohbehn. Her monthly guest posts (the last Friday of every month) are favorites here at Petals from the Basket. I know you’ll enjoy this post and learn what it means to truly be content!  —Brenda

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Recently, we have had some of the grey days of winter: snow, slush, ice, and not a lot of sunshine. It makes Spring seem like a long way off. What a wonderful time to start on one side of my kitchen, take a door with three shelves behind it, and make the contents sparkle with freshly washed dishes, dusted shelves, and a clean exterior. Nobody else will notice, but I will. What a wonderful sense of “winter contentment” to know one more section is completed each day!

A few years ago, I read a superb book that was a great blessing and challenge to me. Acres of Diamonds was written by Russell Conwell (who was then President of Temple University in Philadelphia, PA) in the 1800s. He shared a story told to him as true by his guide while they were on a boat on the Euphrates River.

The story went like this: A man by the name of Ali Hafed, along with his wife and children, lived on a farm in Persia. He was a contented man; therefore, he was a wealthy man. One day, a wise man came to visit him. He was declaring the glories of the universe and said that a diamond was a congealed drop of sunlight. Ali was intrigued by his exposition and asked questions about the diamond. The wise man told him that if he had one diamond the size of his thumbnail, he could own his entire county. If he had an entire mine of diamonds, he could have each of his children on a throne.

Ali Hafed couldn’t sleep that night. He was now a poor man; there was so much out there, and he had a compulsion to have it. He sought out the wise man to ask how he could find the location of diamonds. The priest told him that they were always found near a river by which there was white sand. There would be mountains on either side. Ali Hafed went home to make arrangements to sell his farm, place his wife and children in the care of a neighbor, and then go in search of diamonds.

Using the money from the sale of the farm, he began his search from country to country—with no diamonds anywhere. He was discouraged, the money from the farm was gone, and there were still no diamonds in sight. In desperation, he took his own life in Barcelona, Spain.

The old wise man went to visit the people who now owned Ali Hafed’s farm. Upon entering the sitting room, he saw a black stone on the mantle. Out of that stone was a brilliant clear stone that showed all the colors of the rainbow. The old priest shouted, “Ali Hafed must be back!” The farmer said no; he was not, but the stone on the mantle was just something pretty the farmer had picked up in the garden. The wise man said it was a diamond; he knew one when he saw it.

Together they went to the garden by the river in the beautiful mountainous area, did some digging in the white sand, and found other stones like the one on the mantle. There were literally acres of diamonds—right there on what used to be Ali Hafed’s farm. It became a well-known mine that later supplied diamonds for royalty in both England and Russia. Had Ali Hafed searched his own land, he would found that for which he was looking. Ali Hafed would have continued a contented man.

Are you and I contented people? Do we see the riches of God in Christ Jesus in our daily course of living—right in our own backyard? Philippians 4:19 states: “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Let’s rejoice in what God has given us—our salvation, God’s Word (which is filled with riches), our family, our place of employment, our friendships, and our ministry—keep it well-polished, and use it for His glory! That is contentment at its best!