For the most part, we live an ordinary life. We get ready every day. We drive to the same places every day. We toss in a load of clothes every day. And then we get up and do it all again the next day. Even when our normal routine is temporarily taken over by a new routine…for the most part, we still live an ordinary life.
This was the first morning in several weeks that I have taken time to do my devotion. Information overload was an understatement as there were numerous topics flooding my mind that I could work through with God’s word in hand. Then I heard the front door screech open and outcame Sidney Bess with her cup of hot cocoa and her daily devotion book looking disheveled after a long night’s sleep.
In that moment, I realized that there was something very special…almost sacred about the ordinary. We have done nothing but rush through our lives over the past couple of months and while we have attempted to “live in the moment” and trying not to miss anything…we have actually missed everything.
Ordinary is picking up a pile of clothes lying within an inche of the clothes basket almost every day. Ordinary is fighting the frustration and the urge to scream from the top of my lungs “seriously, can’t anyone put their clothes into the basket!” Sacred is the chance to see beyond the pile of clothes and realizing not only the opportunity to serve, but to also gently remind them of their responsibilities and to be thankful for those teaching moments.
Ordinary was saying hello to the girl in the drive-thru. Sacred was the connection that occured when I recalled her name the next time we came through. The smile that appeared on her face knowing someone remembered her was priceless.
Ordinary was a quick dash into Hobby Lobby. Sacred was discovering the young check-out girl was once the little girl we use to go to church with several years ago and now she is married and expecting a little boy soon.
Ordinary is telling my children that this is my devotion time and to go do something quietly. Sacred is the moment one of them joins you for their own front porch devotion.
When we rush through our journey, we become consumed with stress and societal pressures that force us to rush even more and miss out on the sacred moments of our journey. When we slow down, we can see beyond the ordinary and discover those sacred moments.
I know that God’s plan for my life is extraordinary. The time it takes me to work through His plan should not be rushed. It should be a slow learning process so that I don’t miss out on the moments that matter the most.
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