Ordinary Things and Thoughts on 33

I am 33 today. And I woke up this morning and can’t get this out of my head. “Do ordinary things with extraordinary love.” Or paraphrased: “Do small things with great love.”

I've heard it many times, but it's like I am hearing it with new ears. I think that will be my mantra this year.

My Facebook feed and phone has been lit up with Happy Birthday messages and sweet compliments all morning. Way to make a girl feel special.

But I know deep inside I am not an extraordinary person. And I don’t mean that in a self-degrading way. This doesn’t mean I don’t have confidence or am feeling low or anything like that. I 100% believe and recognize we are filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. I love the book of Ephesians and thinking about God’s presence and power in our lives.

But what I am saying is that I am an ordinary person and my days are filled with ordinary tasks.

I am a mom of three. I have nursed three babies, changed countless diapers, wiped noses, calmed tantrums, snuggled hard, disciplined, cooked more meals than I can count and cleaned up afterwards. It’s hard work. Some days I feel like I deserve a medal because we all got dressed and I cleaned all the toilets by 8 am. And other days I lose my temper and feel like I failed miserably.

Sometimes it can get lonely. And it can feel like no one says thank you. And I can get in a real pity party really fast.

Other days it feels like the greatest gift in the world.

But how many moms have done this before me and will continue to do this after me? How many moms are doing this right along with me?

So to learn to do these things with a smile on my face and joy in my heart, day in and day out. That’s a goal and that’s a gift. Do ordinary things with extraordinary love.

I’ve done nonprofit work for the last decade. I’ve worked in databases, crunched numbers, done fundraising. It was fun work and it was hard work. I was promoted and I was making a good wage. I took great joy and had great “pride” in my work. And I love, love the nonprofits I have had the joy to work with. But sitting in an office, day in and day out. It was ordinary. Working in Excel, ordinary. Sending thank you notes to donors. Ordinary.

But put God in the equation and multiply the efforts by all the staff members and thousands of donors. Then you see lives changed. Lives transformed. Lives healed. Now, that’s extraordinary. But me and my role? Ordinary.

My role now with Noonday: whether you see it as direct sales or a mission field (or both), what I personally do is pretty ordinary. I get dressed, put (a little) makeup on and get ready for the day. I take photos and share them. I gather with women at trunk shows, and I tell people about our products and our artisans in other countries. I have fun and I laugh and sometimes I get nervous. Sometimes my words come out well and sometimes I fumble. Sometimes I take my baby and he cries and I feel like I messed up.

But when you combine my ordinary efforts with the efforts of women all over the world who are Ambassadors, well, then there’s impact. There’s thousands of families whose lives are changed for the better by the opportunity Noonday creates. There’s great joy in this work. There’s also great challenge that can go along with it because it is heart and soul.

My husband is a teacher. He prepares lessons plans. He drives to and from work each day in a Prius. He grades papers. He doesn’t get paid “a lot” by today’s American standards. He works hard and loves his job. Combine him with all the teachers at the school and all the teachers across the world. Well, we all can agree that this is important work and many would say, THE most important work. He is part of something so much bigger than himself. The ordinary tasks he does all day long are a huge part of shaping lives. And he takes great joy in that. 

My favorite book of the Bible is hands down Ecclesiastes. It's been my favorite for years. Funny, since the phrase I remember the most from the book is the repeated phrase that “It’s all meaningless!” But before you think I’m crazy, let me explain. Solomon talks about all the “great” things he did. He built palaces and made money and did all these things. He did them well, but only to see others come after him and “destroy” what he did. So what was the point?

Now that sounds totally depressing but then there’s this:

The best thing in life, he concluded, was to eat, drink and be merry. Enjoy your life, your work and your loved ones. Don't sweat the small stuff. Don't toil. Don't fret. (All paraphrased.)

So that’s my mantra this year. Eat, drink, be merry. Enjoy my babies and my work. Continue to do my ordinary things and be brave. Continue to fight for others. Continue to love in small ways and trust that God will take my small ways and give them significance for His glory. Recognize that each phase is a season and there is a time for all things to begin and come to an end.

I will continue to recognize my own humanity and the “meaninglessness” of it all. Because it will all fade away. Because there’s something much bigger after this life.

The minute we put ourselves on a pedestal and think we did the great things – that’s the minute we crumble. That’s the minute we lose the point.

Alternatively, it is so easy for our efforts to feel too small or too ordinary or meaningless at times. 

But when our efforts are combined with God's power? They can become extraordinary.

So, what if we strike that happy balance? Where we humbly obey and don’t get proud when we “succeed.” Where we don’t worry if what we are doing is too small. Where we let the Spirit move within us and we are content where we are.

That is the goal for me right now. And for a type A, over-analyzing, recovering perfectionist…that’s a hard goal.

Do ordinary things with extraordinary love. Doing my best to put it into practice.

Thanks for reading.