Ordinary-What More Could I Ask For?
In recent days, I have spent some time reflecting on my life. This reflection was brought on by the revelation that one of my cohorts from my college days is now a diplomat for the US Department of State. I remember sitting with my group of friends, dreaming about what our futures would hold. To me the possibilities were endless - maybe I would travel the world as a missionary, sing to the masses in foreign countries, write dozens of books about my adventures as a trailblazer for God’s Kingdom. My favorite saying was “Seize the day.” I wanted to “suck the marrow out of life.”
When I met my husband to be, I was shocked that I found myself falling in love with such an “ordinary” man (well, except in the looks category;). He was going to school to be a coach and a teacher. That was “all” he wanted to be. No plans to travel the world, to rock the nations. Just to be the best teacher and coach he could be. I remember reasoning that after I was through with him, he would be a very “important” man. He had potential - he just didn’t see it yet.
I fell head over heels for him - not for his powerful personality, but for his sincerity, his passion for God, his honesty, his integrity. I knew he was the man God had planned for me, the unknown face in all the visions of my wedding day. But I still had dreams of what he would become, how he would take me on a grand adventure that suited my vision for the future.
Well, let me say, it has been a grand adventure, but not of the sort I expected. God is so kind not to give us what we want sometimes! Unlike my dream for what Jack would become, God’s vision for us is eternal in its value and ever-wise in its timing. God has taught me more through the everyday business of life than I ever could have learned trotting the globe. He knew (and knows) what my future would hold, that I would need the particular lessons I have learned in order to become what he created me to be.
To anyone who will listen - DO NOT DESPISE THE ORDINARY LIFE! This is where God is! He loves you and knows the future he has for you (Jeremiah 29:11). Yesterday’s devotion in My Utmost for His Highest put it this way:
“It is inbred in us that we have to do exceptional things for God; but we have not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things, to be holy in mean streets, among mean people, and this is not learned in five minutes.”
So, when I wipe runny noses or read bedtime stories or wear callouses on my knees from praying for my children - THIS IS THE EXCEPTIONAL LIFE! When I cheer at a football game or pray with a friend or make a meal for my family - THIS IS THE BLESSED LIFE! THANK YOU, LORD! For You measure the value of my life by your perfect will, not by the external and fleeting standards of men. I am blessed and highly favored by a powerful, awe-inspiring King who holds eternity in His hands. What more could I ask for?