LIFE RIGHT NOW â—½ YOU
An Ordinary Life
by Jennifer Stephens
It’s that time of year. Days are getting longer. The sun is getting sunnier. Our wrapped up in couch blankets watching TV kind of nights are slowly being replaced with staying outside under the stars listening to cicadas and catching fireflies. And we all know what that means…it’s the beginning of ice cream season! (Oh, who am I kidding, in our house we devour ice cream all year long…) But there IS something special about stopping for a cold treat at the custard stand on a hot summer evening. Those ice cream nights.
Everybody has their “flavor.” And the possibilities are endless! My husband usually picks something with little candies mixed in – Reese’s Pieces or M&M’s. Me? Sometimes I’ll order a Turtle Sundae with hot fudge and pecans or a pie filled Pumpkin Cheesecake concrete, but most of the time I prefer vanilla. Just plain, ole vanilla. Boring? Maybe. I suppose to some it is. But I like it. Just a cup filled with smooth creaminess. Mmm…
I’m not sure why vanilla has such a bad rap. Blah. Basic. Ordinary. What’s wrong with ordinary? I happen to like my ordinary life. There’s nothing better than an afternoon pulling weeds with my two pups nearby chasing after squirrels. Making the bed and vacuuming floors. Lunches with friends and weekends with family. I enjoy the humdrum beat of days filled with empty spaces. There’s bliss in the nothingness. There’s happy in those moments that don’t make the Instagram highlight reel.
Sometimes we feel like we’re missing out when life isn’t an endless array of activity. Social media tells us to travel to faraway places and redecorate our too big houses with overpriced accessories. It can even feel like we’re not enough for God if we’re not in a constant state of go, go, go. We think He’s only available to us when we’re living extraordinarily - jumping out of airplanes or chasing rainbows for that elusive gold-filled kettle. But, guess what. He’s there in the ordinary. He WANTS US when we’re living in the ordinary.
One of my favorite verses is found in Romans 12:1-2 and I like the way it’s worded in The Message version:
“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you:
Take your everyday, ordinary life - your sleeping, eating, going-to-work,
and walking-around life - and place it before God as an offering.
Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.
Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.
Instead, fix your attention on God.
You’ll be changed from the inside out…”
God wants us on our ordinary days. Our do-nothing, no glitz or glamour, shopping at Walmart for laundry detergent kind of days. Because shopping for laundry detergent at Walmart means I have clothes to wear and electricity to run the machine that’s inside the shelter of my house where I get to live, and a vehicle to travel in with money to purchase supplies needed to clean. Wow. There’s a lot to be thankful for in that one ordinary task.
Suddenly, ordinary doesn’t seem quite so ordinary after all. And that vanilla bean in my cup of ice cream isn’t so dull either. It’s actually pretty special. It’s the only edible fruit of the orchid family. No two vanilla beans are the exact same. It’s also the secret ingredient needed to make almost every recipe delicious. Vanilla doesn’t call attention to itself and neither does my ordinary life. And that’s okay. I’m thankful to have God with me in the seemingly mundane parts of life. Like shopping for laundry detergent. Because He’s the only extraordinary I need.