The Extraordinary Ordinary

We’re standing in Mom’s kitchen.
She’s leaning on the counter making her oatmeal.

When her legs start to weaken
and her knees start to bend,
I remind her, Stand up, Mom.

 

And she starts singing as if on cue…
Stand up, stand up for Jesus.
Ye soldiers of the cross.

She doesn’t know the words that come after that, so she just hums.
And she hums her way through the rest of her morning routine.

It’s so…ordinary.

We wish for so many things…
The weight loss.
An organized house.
A significant other…or a perfect spouse.

One day…
When…
Then I will…

Believing that those extraordinary events are what will make life great.

It’s when we start wishing and waiting and delaying our living that we miss the gift of the present.

The Gift of the Ordinary.

I’m learning a lot of that from my Mom.

Our friends, Inger Lise, Scott, and their daughter Elizabeth, brought Mom a beautiful orchid this summer. She cares for that plant like it was a gift straight from God’s arms.
(Well actually, I care for it. She talks about it a lot and reminds me to care for it…several times a day.)

It’s not a bouquet of a dozen roses.
It’s not an extravagant arrangement.
It’s a simple potted flower.

It’s beautiful.
It brings joy.
It is ordinary.

We can get so caught up in waiting for one day.
For the big thing.
That we miss today.

So…Let’s wrap our hearts around the ordinary.

The humming that soothes your soul.
Morning routines that offer predictability.
Lavender plants that make you smile.

Life is happening now.

An Ordinary life…
That is Extraordinary.

Just as it was thousands of years ago.

A little baby boy born in a manager.

So Ordinary.
And so Extraordinary.

Would you like a little inspiration from me every day?

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Comments

  1. I recognized your mother’s picture in this piece that you wrote. She is very extraordinary and was a great teacher and is a lovely person

You are Extraordinarily Significant!