Living in the Ordinary

Joan of Arc, Moses, David Livingston, Abraham and John Wesley's mom... are you wondering what they all have in common? Yes, they were great people in history. Yes, they accomplished great things. But most importantly to me... they had ordinary lives that were seasoned with a few extraordinary events...well, except maybe David Livingston. He really lived on the edge all the time.

I can picture Noah and his wife... every day he gets up, eats breakfast, grabs his saw and hammer and gets busy on building his boat. I wonder if he relished every day, or if rather he looked at his splinter filled hands and sighed a bit? Do you think his wife occasionally shook her head wondering when he was going to be finished with his "little" project?

Or how about Moses? He had grand ideas of saving his people..messed up, then found himself shepherding in the desert for years on end? Do you think he might have gotten a bit disillusioned with the dream he felt in his heart and his current circumstances?

Now, the great evangelist,John Welsey, had a mom who has always been a symbol of an amazing woman to me. If my memory is correct, she had quite a bundle of children...and rather meager means. Her days were probably filled with cooking, cleaning and teaching her children. Rather ordinary, don't you think?

I was reading through some old emails of mine today. I mean, here I am in Africa, looking for ways to serve God here..and what are those emails full of? Children at school..church...work..family...normal ordinary stuff. Nothing anyone would call "extraordinary adventure" for sure!

Yet, I truly believe that my plain, bland, nothing extraordinarylife is something useful (and not just for my children who lose their shoes, or my husband who is hoping for a late night cup of coffee!).

In those ordinary moments...driving the kids to school...paying for groceries...waiting in the queue at the Home Affairs office...I am aware of God at work. Sometimes it is through me being able to offer some encouragement or care...sometimes it is someone offering those things to me.

So, while I might not be traipsing through the jungles of Africa, sharing the love of Christ with unknown people groups, eating slimy grubs and being eaten alive by mosquitos...I am experiencing my own version of extraordinary....looking for what God is doing here around me...in my ordinary...and joining Him in it.