I was meant to be extraordinary. No, really. I was. And I told my mother this news last month. I told her this with tears streaming down my face, in the midst of a month that was not going 'my way' for a variety of different reasons. Because I am a dreamer and sometimes my life just doesn't feel dreamy. So I told my mother that it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that my husband works harder than anyone I know, and yet we still often struggle with knowing how to make ends meet. It wasn't fair that things in our life were (are) soon changing (some of the changes I am welcoming, and some leave me fearful). It wasn't fair that I miscarried our sweet fourth baby that I was so excited about, or that one of our upcoming changes was experiencing problem after problem, or that our car broke down, or that I hadn't had a moment alone with Boss for an entire month, unless of course you counted our hours at the ER and the car dealership. I told her that it was all just too much, and couldn't I just catch a break? This couldn't really be my life! Could it? Could I really be about to turn thirty, with so many things seeming complicated and up in the air? I mean, when was I going to lead a grown up life? When would life fit into the nice little box that I had so beautifully prepared for it? I was meant to be extraordinary! So I told her so, in a very (un)grown up like fit. And yet, here was my life day after day, so very ordinary.
My mother was nice enough not to laugh at me at the time, but as things in our lives have calmed back down, it has turned into a bit of a family joke. I tell Boss that I can't possibly fold the laundry. After all, I am extraordinary. I tell my children they are so lucky to have such an extraordinary school teacher (that would be me)! My father calls and asks to speak to his extraordinary daughter. Really, we are saying all of these things in fun, and I still fold the laundry and put it away each week. But inside I still sometimes wonder. Not really about being extraordinary (because really, I am just me, and I am okay with that), but I wonder if there is maybe something more? If maybe I am missing out on something? Some secret to life? And then I came across this article written by Nancy Campbell from Above Rubies:
Ordinariness Or Extraordinariness?
I've coined a new word-ordinariness.
It's a place where many people live. I'm not talking about the "sameness" of your everyday tasks in the home, for even the most mundane tasks are sacred and therefore extraordinary when you allow God into them.
I am talking about living in the state of thinking like the status quo, fitting in with the humanist agenda of our society, and trusting in your own resources and understanding. There is no other word for this state than ordinariness.
To move out of this comfortable state and live in biblical mindset takes you into extraordinariness.
It is a challenging life--a realm of faith, hanging on the edge of a limb, adventures of trusting God when you cannot see where His provision is coming from, battles against the adversary, speaking up for truth and God-given convictions in the face of popular opinion, and receiving ridicule from family members and neighbors.
We are out of step with the world but in step with God. We are out of sync with public thinking in the media and humanistic education, but we seek to listen to the mind of God. It's not the easy life, but it's definitely not ordinary.
Why live in ordinariness when you can live in extraordinariness? If God has anything to do with your life, it will be extraordinary, for God is anything but ordinary.
Let's move out of the "ordinary humanistic lifestyle" into the "extraordinary biblical lifestyle.
Did you read that? Do you see what it says? Right there it says that each of us who have given our lives to Christ have the opportunity to lead an extraordinary life! In fact, it is expected of us! Maybe not extraordinary in terms of what this world values and deems worthy. And maybe not extraordinary in the ways that I had been desiring (an easy, comfortable life). But extraordinary in the fact that if we are following God, going against the flow, and shining our lights, we will have no option but to stand out in the crowd! And isn't that what extraordinary people do? They don't blend in, that is for sure. And it doesn't matter if we wear a suit and handle business affairs, or if we flip burgers, or if we wear sweats and wipe bottoms for a living. Because it is not what we do or who we are that makes us extraordinary, it's WHOSE we are! So it turns out that I was right. I never was meant to be ordinary. I WAS meant to be extraordinary! And so, my friends, were you.
Phil 2:15 "...children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe."
