Ordinary

Isn't it funny how even the most amazing things, when dealt with day in and day out can become ordinary over time?

Last week at family camp, Daren spoke during our campfire worship pointing out that it's a beautiful sight to drive into camp and see the lake. He asked the staff if they are still struck by it when they see it many times a day. Daren shared about moving to Duluth and seeing Lake Superior as he drove in. Everyday when he first started working there he would go have lunch on a bench by the lake. He never does that anymore. He challenged us to keep being amazed at God in the things around us.

And these days there is a lot of ordinary. Laundry, getting juice, changing diapers, making supper, refereeing arguments feel run of the mill and boring. The daily ins and out and challenges of mothering are oftentimes less than exciting.

It's true that the things we are around everyday become ordinary after a while. Even when they are not ordinary. Some of the most extraordinary experiences in my life have involved holding our children right after they were born and seeing Mike on our wedding day. They are created by God and gifted to me. They make me love, laugh, cry and scream. And they are to be treasured.

I wish I could say that I still treasure each kiss like I did when I became Mrs. Keller or look at the kids the same way as I did in the moments after their birth. But I don't. At times they become just an inconvenience or another disruption to my day. They can be just one more thing that needs something from me.

Just like each day and view of the lake can be taken for granted instead of cherished so too can our families. We deal with them all the time and it's easy to lose the sense of greatness involved in God's plan for putting our families together.

God uses ordinary things for extraordinary purposes: a baby born in a barn, an outcast crucified on a cross, a bunch of fishermen to start the church. My everyday ordinary is changing me. I pray I'll see each day as an opportunity for the extraordinary work of God in my family. And that's no ordinary thing.

Acts 4:13
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

Romans 12:1
So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life--and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. (The Message)

1 Corinthians 7:29-31
I do want to point out, friends, that time is of the essence. There is no time to waste, so don't complicate your lives unnecessarily. Keep it simple--in marriage, grief, joy, whatever. Even in ordinary things--your daily routines of shopping, and so on. Deal as sparingly as possible with the things the world thrusts on you. This world as you see it is on its way out.