I’m typically not one to make New Year’s resolutions. Simply for the fact that I’ve never been one to follow through with them. I’m constantly dreaming about a MiLlIoN things at once that I don’t give myself enough concentration to truly fulfill even ONE resolution. (any 7’s reading this?) Not much is different for me as I enter into 2021. However, on the 31st I woke up with a prayer on my heart about this year & this is one I want to follow through with.
“So, what is this prayer?” you may ask. Well, it wasn’t exactly a prayer… maybe it was more of an invitation… What I mean is the prayer didn’t come from me… The more I think of it the more I believe that perhaps it’s sort of an invitation from God… This can be a bit confusing. I know. I simply woke up & it was the first thing on my heart…
& it went a little like this…
“Instead of always striving for extraordinary… how about you begin to strive for ordinary” I thought to myself. Ok. Sure. My next thought…this year I want ordinary. O R D I N A R Y? I would never… but then I thought…
Most of the time I catch myself daydreaming of the next extraordinary experience to come. I spend my free time searching for the next road trip destination & longing to be somewhere I’m not. I live from high to high. Mountain top to mountain top. More often than not, the results in an exciting, spontaneous, & adventurous lifestyle! I love life. I love MY life! I truly do. I would say one of my most favorite things about being alive is getting to experience the extraordinaries of this world that are waiting to be discovered by each of us. Sometimes this means finding a “secret spot” along the river that becomes my happy place. Other times this means setting out on a two week road trip with my gals & living out of a car as we explore the Pacific NorthWest. Other times it means leaving the country for an 11 month mission trip.
At the same time, my daydreaming & tendency to search for the next extraordinary moment (however big or small) leaves me simply passing by each moment & person that is right in front of me… In other words, it tends to be a challenge for me to be present where my feet are planted.
My search for the extraordinary has been mirrored in my relationship with God. When I experience some sort of “mountain top” THEN, I feel most seen by God. I feel as though he knows the desires of my heart & is rejoicing in my experiences with me… as if I’m responding to His invitation into this adventurous life.
…like that one time at that one spot on Elk Mountain…
*story time* One summer I was driving up Elk Mtn with my two girl friends. The drive up the mountain was lined with wild flowers, pines & aspen trees. This was until we reached “that one spot”. That one spot was sort of an empty field. It was not filled with pine trees nor was it filled with aspens. It was not filled with brightly colored wildflowers. It was simply a bare patch looking out onto the other mountains. Some might consider this spot of the mountain… ordinary. However, when I laid eyes on this patch I opened the car door & TOOK OFF RUNNING into the field! Spinning! Dancing! Every ounce in my body was telling me to run!!! To be free. AND SO I DID. Giggling & rejoicing in the ordinaries & extraordinaries of life in that very moment! Right behind me were my gals sharing in this experience. At this moment we were children again. We were daughters. Daughters of the same Father. In that moment I responded to an invitation from God to run into “that one (ordinary) spot” & in return I experienced something extraordinary… a child-like love.
In contrast to these “mountain tops”, when I’m in a cycle of mundane experiences I tend to feel farthest from God. Not only does my prayer life begin to cease but my desire to know Him begins to fade.During these moments I feel as though I’m drowning in the ordinary cycle of waking, being, sleeping, & waking again. I then begin to live out of one of my greatest fears…the fear of stagnation (or being bored & stuck in a cycle of repeating the same ish). I then naturally step into another cycle & begin to long for the future & for new experiences all over again. Perhaps this is something I never stop doing. It’s in striving for the extraordinary that I forget to see the beauty in the ordinary. One is not without the other.
…& so my prayer continued like this…
This year I’m prayerful for a life of ordinary experiences. I’m prayerful I’ll learn once again to meet the Lord in the quiet & simple moments of life. In the moments of waking, being, sleeping, & waking again. I’m prayerful even though I’m setting out on this extraordinary experience called The World Race, God will be as visible in the mountain tops as in the plateaus. I’m prayerful that even though I’m called to live radically, I’ll learn what that means while being present. I’m prayerful that in my moments of daydreaming this year I choose to seek God & seek His voice & His call to be present.
Rather than being interruptible from the self within I want to be interruptible by God. When you think about Jesus in his times of doing ministry you will notice how many of these moments consisted of him caring for people who interrupted him. Jesus was never too in a rush to notice the people that were right in front of him. As I enter this year I’m asking the Lord to teach me to be interruptible as Jesus was on Earth. To take the focus of my heart off of myself so that I can live radically for the kingdom of God.
I don’t believe God is telling me to quit or step away from searching for extraordinary experiences. However, I believe this year He is especially inviting me to seek Him in the ordinary.
… to find as much joy in the Lord in the ordinary as in the extraordinary…
……………………………………..
What was an ordinary field. Empty. Became an extraordinary experience. An experience I wanted others to encounter & so we came back to “that one spot” later in the summer with two car fulls of gals.
(pictured above are some of my gals following behind me as we ran up the mountain)
(pictured above was our view looking out as we ran up the mountain)
*all photos above were taken by Jade Rae*
(pictured above is a screenshot taken from a video I captured as Emma, Mary Faith, & I experienced that original moment at “that one spot”)
