Ordained to be Ordinary

I’m going to let ya’ll in on a little secret:

I am not a good cook.

I can follow a recipe for the most part, but it is not something that feels natural or is really even enjoyable. There are other things I’m not good at, and it can feel like these things are exacerbated by all of the pinterest-perfect moms or insta-worthy outfits we scroll past.

You know what I’m talking about.

Maybe it’s for the best that I’m not on Instagram for the sheer fact that I don’t have to worry about NOT posting a 5-star meal I created for my family from scratch and feeling the failure associated with no living up to the hype. 

On the other hand, it might inspire me to do a little more or try something new. As the saying goes, everything in moderation.

Comparing ourselves to others can serve its purpose, but it can also engulf us. With this in mind, I feel like God has been telling me its OK to be, well, average. In fact,

we are ordained to be ordinary

Don’t misinterpret that – we aren’t called to be comfortable or lazy, but we don’t have to be perfect and glamorous either. 

There are so many opportunities in the ordinary,  albeit boring, things that happen on a daily basis that we overlook. But if we slow down a bit, we can see God’s deliberate hand in our daily routine. 

One of the monotonous parts of my day is my commute to work. I spend 25 minutes in the car going to work and then 25 minutes coming home from work each day. It would be easy for me to gripe about this amount of gravel (especially when I am stopped due to roadwork), but I have come to appreciate this little bit of solace. No, not because I am free from changing diapers or picking up monster trucks from the living room floor, but for the reprieve from the world it offers.

You see, I have embraced this drive as my personal time with Jesus. I spend it in prayer over the day, over my family, my coworkers, and especially the patients I work with. I listen to sermons from my favorite pastors around the country. I spend it thinking about how I can show God’s love through me with the people I encounter along the way.

Wanna know another secret?

I can’t sing. But I make a joyful noise and I know it sounds sweet to Jesus. We spend that time together getting ready for the respective parts of my day – taking care of patients, then taking care of my family. There have been mornings I wept all the way to the doors of my job. There have been afternoons I played the same song on repeat the whole way home. Most of the time, it’s just me doing heart work with Jesus.

You can make this correlation in many of the mundane things you do each day. Never-ending loads of laundry. Yardwork in the scorching heat. Buying yet another bag of kitty food. Sweeping up Cheerios for the umpteenth time.

But ya’ll, when life is busy and we are “stuck” doing the ordinary, God still meets us and fills us with a desire for more. To do more, to be more, to make more connections with Him and with others. That longing that is unfulfilled by the things of this world is quenched by our savior.

We aren’t called to be the perfect Christians or have it all together. We don’t have to wait until we achieve some sort of stereotypical notoriety before we can enter into a relationship with God or tell others about the goodness He has poured into our lives.

No, we are just ordinary people with a God that loves us extravagantly, thus making each and every day extraordinary.

Verses for today:

A potter has the right to do what he wants to with his clay, doesn’t he? He can make something for a special occasion or something for ordinary use from the same lump of clay. Romans 9:21 (ISV)

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20 (ESV)