Stuck in Ordinary

Have you ever felt like you were repeating the same thing over and over again?  Does your life ever feel as if you are stuck in the "Groundhog Day" movie, where the man relives the same day over and over again?  I think many of us can relate to this monotonous reliving of the same routine, day in and day out.  I work in a Special Needs classroom.  I don't feel like I am reliving the same day over and over again...I actually AM living the same day over and over again! 


We teach the kids how to add, tell time and even how to say simple phrases such as "girl scouts" instead of "scout girls".  When we arrive at school the following day....we hear about how "scout girls" went and then listen to them count without the number 6.  Do you ever feel as if your following a path that will never lead to where you wanted to go?


I realized today that God maybe feels the same way about me.  He tries to teach me how to follow Him, to trust Him and how to have joy in the midst of an ordinary day.  I listen and I am doing so good...until I wake up the next day.  I seem to forget so soon that God can be in the middle of my ordinary.  God can be in the routine.  God wants to use us when we are stuck in our real life "Groundhog Day"....but how can He use us if we forget how to follow?  How do we make the right choices if we choose not to trust?  How do we have joy when we refuse to believe?


The verse at the top of my blog is Romans 15:3: " May the God of Hope fill you with all Joy and Peace as you Believe in Him."  I think many times I don't want to believe.  I think God has left me in the middle of ordinary and gone ahead to show the perfect life to someone else.  When I look at all of the ordinary and difficult things in front of me, I forget.  I forget to trust...I forget to believe...that God is there.  He is in the middle of my ordinary, difficult day.  He is ready to fill me with all joy if only I would believe that He could give me joy in the midst of my perfectly not perfect day.


It's funny, because the rest of this verse tells me what God would do with me if I just believed He could.  The rest of the verse reads, "so that you may overflow with Hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."   God doesn't give us joy and peace so that we will have a fun day at work.  He gives this to us...so that we may overflow with Hope!  What does overflow mean?  It means that something runs over...and out...onto all that is around.  Our hope is meant to flow out of us...onto all who are around.  The verse tells us that God's Spirit will give us the power...the power to share our hope in the middle of an ordinary day....all we have to do is, "Believe in Him". 


So, tomorrow I will start again...not only the same routine..again and again..but what God has been trying to teach me...again and again.  To believe in Him...that He is with me when I don't see Him.  To believe I can have joy and peace smack dab in the middle of my ordinary....and to overflow with hope all over those around me!

Did you ever dream of becoming a Princess?

Every little girl dreams of becoming a princess and living in a castle...at least I did!  I dressed up in the robe and tiara as I waved my wand and commanded the attention of those around.  I grew up watching all of the princess movies...to be honest, I still do! They all end in a fairytale...or I guess, maybe they are the fairytale.  One of my favorite stories in the Bible is of a girl named Esther, who becomes not only a princess...but a queen and ends up living in the castle.  She probably grew up in a small home not far from the palace.  I am sure she would look at the palace and dream of what it would be like to be royal - a dream she knew would never come true.

Her story was not quite a fairytale or a dream.  It was more of a nightmare, if you read the story...she was stolen from her home by soldiers who were searching for beautiful young women to "interview" with the king for the position of his queen.  Esther joined hundreds of other girls who were "chosen" to be taken to the king's palace.  They had one year of beauty treatments before they were even allowed their one chance to be "interviewed".  If the girl was pleasing to the king, she would be chosen as his queen.  It seems that Esther wanted to please the king and she showed this by asking her supervisor what she should wear when she went for her "interview".

It amazes me that someone who was stolen from home and kept in a palace for one year still wanted to do the right thing.  She wanted to be chosen as queen.  She saw that although her life had not turned out as she planned, that God must still be in control.  Esther knew that God was her ultimate King.  I believe she wanted to please the king because she knew that God had a plan.  God must know what He was doing by allowing her life to turn out this way...stuck in a palace to compete in an ultimate beauty pageant.

One of my favorite parts of the story is when it says that Esther "found favor with the King"...that is what we all ultimately want, isn't it?  To find favor with the King?  How do we begin to find favor with the King of Kings?  I think it all begins as we learn to trust.  Sometimes, we think the plans we create are better than what God can design for us.  When we put our trust in the King, we are turning over our own plans in exchange for His plan and purpose for our lives.  

I thought I had my life all planned out.  I was working at a school, the wife of a pastor, mother of two girls.   What more could God do with me?  He seemed to be using my life for good.  I tried my best to show God's love to those around me, but I still felt like something was missing.  Then, I asked God, "what is my part? what is my purpose?".  I wanted to see His favor.  I wanted to see what more He could do with my life.  Then, my life changed.  I learned about girls like Esther, who were stolen from their homes but they did not have a fairytale ending.  They were trafficked and used by others who didn't see them as God did.  It broke my heart and caused me to want to do something more.  I began to speak, travel and write.  I began to see that God has a bigger plan than my own.  I feel humbled that God would use me to reach out across the world to help others. Sometimes, I feel as if I have found the "favor of the King".  He has chosen to use me even though I am just an ordinary girl.

At times, it is difficult for us to look at our circumstances and trust that God has a plan and purpose for our lives, but that is exactly what God is waiting for.  He is waiting for us to trust Him with our lives...to trust Him as our King. When we finally let go of our plans and seek out the future the King has designed for us, that is when He shows us what we are really created for...to be royalty.  When we seek out the true heart of God, that is when our identity becomes a part of His identity.  Do you know what your identity really is when you put your trust in God?  You are the daughter of a King...the King of Kings. You are a Princess and that's no fairytale!