The movie credits splash the names of the stars across the screen. We know who they are. They are the people who producers depend on to get us into the theaters. The big names.
But you know, I’m more intrigued by the names in smaller fonts. The actors whose parents lean forward in their red-cushioned theater seats, squinting their eyes to catch their son’s or daughter’s name as it scrolls by, long after everyone else has left the theater.
Sally Jones…Townsperson #1
Ruth Peterson…Bystander #2
Mary Monson…Pedestrian #2
The friends and family cheering and applauding for Sally and Ruth and Mary? They are just as excited as the families of the stars. Probably more excited.
The same thing plays out in real life, doesn’t it?
Business owners, social media favorites, big-named authors, pastors, and musicians stand out above the rest. They’re famous. “Everyone” knows their names. And for those doing good things, that’s wonderful. We should know their names.
But I’m also interested in the woman who doesn’t have the platform or the spotlight. The one who simply shows up, using the gifts God has loaned her for this time.
She’s influencing her family, her community, her church, just by doing what she can do.
I think that woman is you.
People become famous because they’ve done something that influences others. Something that’s noticed and makes an impact.
You, my friend, are famous.
YOU have a unique way of showing up. A way of connecting. Your gifts come alive with your own personality, your style, your presence.
And when you show up and do what you know you can do – even if it feels small or ordinary – it matters.
The poet Naomi Shihab Nye wrote this beautiful reminder:
“I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular but because it never forgot what it could do.”
When my sweater needs to button up? I need a buttonhole.
When something heavy needs to move? I need a pulley.
They are “famous” in those moments.
And when my heart is heavy or my soul is tired, I don’t need the star who is bigger or more well-known.
I need someone who is willing to show up.
Someone who will sit with me. Stand with me. Be right where I need them.
That person becomes famous in my heart.
It’s the people in my everyday life that I need most.
Townsperson #1. Bystander #2. Pedestrian #3.
Sally. Ruth. Mary.
They’re the ones who make my story – my life – complete.
Your role may seem small, but your impact is not.
The rest of us need you to remember what you can do.
And then…just show up.
Do your ordinary…because your ordinary is someone else’s answered prayer.
And that’s when, in the best, most meaningful way—
you are famous.
