The Roof, the Wasps, and the Lesson of Contentment

I went on a prayer walk today, searching for inspiration for my next creative workshop.

This Saturday is International Mental Health Day, and our next youth meeting will, among other things, explore how to move from dark thoughts and difficult feelings towards light and hopeful thinking.

Having processed pain through creativity for many years, I felt inspired to lead a creative workshop that would help participants process pain and open themselves to healing. But I couldn’t decide what exactly to focus on. Then today, something happened on my walk.

At the beginning of the summer, I noticed a man taking down an old roof by himself. I was impressed by his sensitivity towards the wasps that had built nests underneath it. He was aware that removing the old roof was disturbing their habitat, and even endured their stings, refusing to kill them in the process.

For months, I watched him patiently work on his house during my daily walks. Little by little, he removed the old roof and began building a new one, doing as much of the work himself as possible. He was trying to save money, so he was willing to invest his own time and energy.

Finally, after two months, the roof was finished. When I saw him standing beside his completed work, I congratulated him. But I was surprised by his response. He wasn’t pleased. He felt it had taken him too long and that he had been less productive than he had hoped.

From my perspective, there was so much to admire. I told him how impressed I was by his diligence, his hard work, and especially his remarkable treatment of the wasps—something most people would probably have dealt with very differently. I wanted him to know that I saw something beautiful in the way he had approached the whole process.

Today, on my walk, I stopped again to greet him. With a smile on his face, he told me that he had recently remembered my comments about his work and that they had really meant a lot to him.

Then he said:

“In the end, all that matters is to be pleased, isn’t it?”

I knew exactly what he meant. For months, I have been prayerfully walking while feeling displeased about a number of things. And somehow, this simple conversation reminded me of the same conclusion I had:

At the end of the day, before we go to sleep, what really matters is being at peace with the work done that day. Having done the best, accepting what could and could not be accomplished, and allowing that to be enough.

The Apostle Paul expressed something similar from prison, where he wrote to the church in Philippi: “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”

Psalm 34 connects David’s words with a time when his life was in danger. Yet even amid fear and uncertainty, he praised God and spoke of His goodness. In the same psalm, he acknowledged deep pain: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18)

So I finally know what my next creative workshop will be about. It will explore that space between displeasure and contentment—the darkness of constantly feeling that something should be different, better, faster, or more, and the light that comes from learning to find satisfaction in the midst of our circumstances.

What are you displeased about?

And how might you express it creatively as part of your own journey towards contentment?

Feel free to share your creative response in the comments or send me a private message.

Let’s continue the creative conversation.