They want the words that stir them up and change them. Something to make them feel more or feel passionate. Something out of the ordinary to make them feel life isn’t mundane and repetitive. Our lives are ordinary and all we can do, is the ordinary. I don’t think we really appreciate ordinary life enough.

The intentional ordinary though. Being intentional is probably the hardest thing to do in our everyday life where we fill our days and then numb them with our phones and tv. I don’t think they are bad things, I think they are nice for a short game, communication, email, anything that makes life easier on your phone. Same with tv, it’s nice to watch movies every now and then. The problem comes with how often we use them for distraction. I definitely have a problem getting too attached or into binging movies or playing games on my devices. It’s hard doing less and refocusing the attention that would be on electronics (my distraction) to where it should be on God.

Trusting God in our daily life, being intentional with him and spending time with him, applying what we learn to our lives, is ordinary. But it also isn’t. It’s difficult to keep it up. It’s also not an ordinary thing most people do, but we could make it our normal. Although it sounds like a lot, the world asks us to do more. Be more, do more, but efficiently otherwise you are doing it wrong. Doing less would mean you are lazy, right? Or would it actually lighten your load because you are trusting God that it will be done in his time. Yes, I mean laundry, your child’s schoolwork, cleaning the house, budgeting and the rest that come with being a homemaker, domestic engineer and mom. How difficult is it actually to remain trusting in God in our ordinary because it’s always, all day and so slow from day to day and the next day just feels like a repeat? It’s not like the movies where the days pass by within minutes. My days are filled with cleaning, managing the house, spending time with my girls, helping my son with his homework, and spending quality time with my husband. Maybe someday soon, that could include a date again. I am very spent though and I did not even mention spending time with God.

Right now I have no time for God or myself it seems. I think though, that would come with giving God his time first?

I don’t believe in the saying “God doesn’t give you more than you can manage”. I believe he most certainly does, to grow us. I prefer “If God can bring you to it, he can bring you through it”. All we need is perseverance and remembering I don’t have to do everything for everybody, but I can keep up the ordinary.

How can you find the extraordinary in life when you don’t do the ordinary?

Tomorrow I begin the Daniel fast, which is a time of prayer all day, every day for 21 days. I will be giving up meat, dairy, added sugars, caffeine and most grains. This is very difficult because I love those foods and they pretty much make up my diet. I feel like I need a soul refresh and I can do that with my mind and body this way. This will begin my ordinary fix along with devotionals I will attempt throughout the day for 3-5 minutes here and there. I honestly am very excited about this and scared I won’t be able to keep it up. Thats where being prayerful will help though. My family will be doing this with me although I will not be restricting my kids as much as my husband and me.

This journey I began last August has felt much longer than realizing this was just seven months ago. I began finally working on “fixing” me and coming to terms with what is actually wrong. If you have ever read Hinds Feet On High Places, you will understand that I feel like I have left the village and am making my way to the base of the mountain to begin my ascent. I’m ready for change and ready to begin, but that doesn’t mean I’m not scared still.

Thank you for reading this and I hope if you are in the same boat, your journey is just as progressive if not more.