More Than Ordinary

It happens every day. Probably every minute of the day. A process that really is nothing out of the ordinary: Having a child.

When I sit back and think about really how common it is, how every person on this earth, is a result of a birth, it really is ordinary. Yet one thing I keep coming back to is really how extraordinary it is. How extraordinary it is for God to create life inside, nurture that child for 9 months inside a mother’s womb, then to bring that child into the world.

There is nothing ordinary about that.

Our daughter is now 9 months old, and as the days go by, I am reminded really, how special our daughter is. How special EVERY child is. How special EVERY human is.

When I look at life that way, that every human truly is special, especially since GOD is the one who gave each of us breath and life, it gives me a different perspective on living life. On how to go about each day. On how to view each moment in life.

Of course it’s easy to just marvel at a baby. Their cuteness, we just all can’t get enough of. But then when you experience difficulties in relationships with adults, that “marveling” tends to fade. That is when the extraordinary may not seem so extraordinary.

Yet that is what we are. Each of us, no matter what our age, is extraordinary.

Over the past 9 months, my husband and I have just been on our toes, watching Mazy grow. Everyday brings something new. Something exciting. Something different. It is a reminder that she is not just ordinary. She was knitted together by the very hands of God. That changes my perspective on many things. Those late nights when she can’t fall asleep and tears just stream down her cheeks, when I see that night as not just another night, but another night to care for the extraordinary, it gives me a different perspective (trust me, I don’t always have that perspective). When I ask her to give me a “big hug” and she leans in, rests her head on my shoulder, and pats my back, I am reminded that she is more than ordinary.

The other day I read our daughter’s birth story, and to be completely honest, I was reading it almost in shock, that that event actually happened. You see, giving birth was not an option for us for many years. The thought of getting pregnant, a fleeting thought. When I reread her story, I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed that God would choose ME, to give birth to Mazy. That He would choose me, who I consider myself to be the ordinary, to do the extraordinary in.

And this goes far beyond having a child. This transfers to the ordinary days in our lives. The days that seem mundane. The days that are filled with trying to keep the house clean. The days that are filled with picking up toys for the 1,000th time. The days when you wonder is this worth it?

But let me tell you. Those aren’t just ordinary days. Those are days filled with the opportunity to live out the extraordinary. Because YOU are the extraordinary. God chose YOU, to perform the extraordinary in. I am learning that it is a choice. It’s a choice to see the extraordinary in life.

I encourage you to take time to think about what is extraordinary in your life. How are YOU extraordinary? How can you choose to see the extraordinary in yourself and others, everyday?

P.S. This is something I too, need to remind myself of daily. I sure have days where the mundane seems to overtake. But this year, as I was looking back on the past year, I kept coming back to the gift of the extraordinary.

The gift of life.