Five Minute Friday: On Ordinary

Here it is almost 10 p.m. PST and I nearly forgot about Five Minute Friday. 

Five Minute Friday this week is on ordinary. Eek. So many thoughts swim through my mind. 


OK, GO!


Ordinary. Yikes. That word gives me the heebie jeebies to be honest. It's probably what I'm most fearful of in life, just being ordinary. 


You see, I want to be meaningful, creative, visionary. Anything but ordinary. As a stay-at-home mom, there are times, more often than not, that the ONLY thing I feel is ordinary. I often feel like an automaton could come in and take my place and no one else would notice. I feel like what I'm doing is just ordinary, everyday stuff. Dishes, laundry, cooking, cleaning (who am I kidding? I really shouldn't even list this, that's how infrequently I clean my house).


But you know what? God is stretching me and growing me, and SLOWLY (very slowly) showing me that ordinary is an alright place to be. Because you know who God used? Ordinary people. Everyday people. He used the ordinary to do things that were extraordinary. 


I pray for that for my life. I want God to use this ordinary mom life I feel I'm living and make it burst with extraordinary for His glory. 


Want to hear the tough stuff? It takes me realizing that what I'm doing every day, the ins and outs of mothering and wifing, are anything but ordinary. I have the opportunity on a daily basis to extraordinarily touch the lives of the two people I hold most dear, my husband and my son. 


THAT is anything but ordinary. THAT is my calling. I need to answer the Lord's call with a resounding "Yes!"


STOP!


*I love how God smacks me upside the head at 10 p.m. on a Friday night. He really is SO good to care.*

Five Minute Friday ... Go!

This edition of Five Minute Friday is On Friends. 

Giddy up!

Friends. Wow. A loaded word for me. A tough one. 

I can safely say at nearly 35 years old, I may be finally figuring out how to be a friend. I blame it on my being reared as a military brat. Moving every few years gives you a sense of less attachment, less responsibility to people because, I mean, what's the likelihood you'll ever see them again once your dad gets restationed? 

So, now that we've been putting down roots in our community for seven years and we've come full circle to pretty close to the area we went to high school, I'm learning to make friends and how to be friends. Sad, huh? I'm getting a slow start. I am socially inept. 

However, I finally surrendered the desire of my heart to the Lord. I called on him and acknowledged with my words that I desperately needed REAL friends. In that moment, things began to change. I think He was just waiting for me to speak the truth and speak my desire to him, not just wallow in it and wait for Him to make it happen for me. 

Recognition is powerful. So, now, at the tender, young age I am, connections are being made that have great promise, old connections are being strengthened. I'm seeing friends for who they are and what they mean to me. I'm seeing that you live through ups and downs, mood swings, dirty diapers and dishes, and you learn to love one another for what you've got. No expectations, just reality. We all have our faults. My friends accept mine, so I need to accept theirs. 

Done.

Phew! Five minutes goes fast, but boy is it worth it. Why don't you join me next Friday to see what's in store? 

I've got the joy, joy, joy ... where?

Down in my heart? Do I?

Joy. Hmm. Why, as a Christian woman, is that a tough subject to write on? 

I think it's because I feel like I yearn for it. It's not as if I have no joy at all; it's just that I desire a consistent joy. 

Sure, my days are sprinkled with moments of joy. Watching my little guy sleep or learn something new, baking something amazing, reading words or listening to music that captures my soul. I find many sprinklings of joy in my days. 

It's the in between time that I'm concerned about. The moments that come all too frequently where I completely and utterly forget about all that is to be joyful about in my life and give in to the enemy's temptation to be angry and bitter. Over stupid things. Miniscule things. Things that don't even matter. 

I tend to let situations dictate my mood. Steal my joy. Inconveniences. Hurt feelings. Things that were said in error. Why? 

I want to be in a consistently joyful state. On a day to day basis. Because I should be. There are not many things not going right for me in my life. I can create drama where it's not or I can choose to relish in what I have that's right ... that promotes joy.

This topic is difficult. More often than not, I feel overwhelmed by life and not entirely joyful for all the Lord's given me. Isn't that selfish? 

I think it starts with more prayer. More heart to hearts with God. He knows all of what I'm feeling, so why do I try to pretend He doesn't? I'm going to start working on consistent joy.

*I'm jumping in and linking up to Five Minute Friday. I think it's such a wonderful idea and look forward to what it reveals to me. Check it out and join in!*