The Joy of the Ordinary and Small

     As I'm sure most of you have gathered from the title, this post is all about those small, ordinary, everyday things that everyone tends to take for granted. I know, this subject has probably been beaten to death for some of you. Bear with me though! I believe it is SO important to learn how to really SEE all the miracles that are around us; even those tiny, seemingly-insignificant events...

"We look for visions of Heaven, and we never dream that all the time God is in the commonplace things and people around us."

Oswald Chambers

    

     The idea for this post started running through my brain awhile ago; back before Father's Day, actually! Two days after school ended for the summer, I left for a short vacation down in Florida. At the time of this current post idea, I was in one of my most happy places: on a plane. I love flying, you all. I feel much more comfortable on a plane than in a car. Especially when I'm heading to another of my happy places: the beach! Already feeling content and joyful with my current situation before the plane ever moved, I was surprised to find that God had even more for me once the plane actually took off. 

     An older gentleman was sitting directly behind me, in a row all by himself. I had briefly made his acquaintance during the boarding process, as he was carefully watching everything I did. He had never been on a plane before! While I could not relate to waiting until my late sixties to fly for the first time, I DID understand feeling nervous about where to go and what to do. And while I could also relate to feeling blown away by the incredible feeling and sight of taking off, I could NOT relate to being super vocal about it...

     Friends, believe me when I say that I have never seen anyone as joyful about anything like this man was about flying for the first time. As the plane took off, he started yelling, loudly and excitedly, and I heard the clicking sound of a phone camera being used... over and over again. After the plane leveled off, he alternated between apologizing for his behavior, and incredulously crying out about how amazing it all was. As for me, I was going back and forth between tearing up at his excitement, assuring him that his reactions were fine with me, and rediscovering how TRULY wonderful being in a plane can be. My whole row got to talking with him, and I learned that he lives in a rural county in Kentucky, and was on his way to visit his girlfriend. (Which he also was SO EXCITED about.) He continuously interrupted himself to talk more about how incredible flying is, and how lucky he was to be able to experience it, even at his more advanced age. 

     We take so many things for granted these days. Wouldn't it be awesome if we could get our excitement back?! And by "excitement," I mean that real JOY that fills us when we experience something amazing for the first time. Like the feeling of taking off in a plane. When did that stop taking people's breath away? Staring down at farmland, divided into perfect sections. Being so high up that even rivers look small and insignificant. Looking out the plane window and seeing nothing but white, because you're literally flying within the clouds. How many times when I was little did I look up and wish I could do that? Be in the clouds, I mean. I haven't even flown that many times in my life, but I have done it enough that I started losing the sheer joy that comes from experiencing that miracle. And thanks to the ecstatic shouts of a sixty-eight year old man, I was reminded of how miraculous flying truly is. Thank you, Jesus, for that experience!

     Some of you may think me ridiculous, and that's totally fine. Think of a different miracle that you take for granted. Even breathing, the way our lungs work, how our brain runs the whole shebang... a miracle! All of creation is a miracle. That's part of why I love sitting on the beach so much; doing so ensures that you experience a huge miracle firsthand. The Grand Canyon is a miracle. Niagara Falls is a miracle. Redwood trees are a miracle. Deserts are a miracle; life exists within terrible circumstances there! In some ways, technology is a miracle. Look at all the awesome things humans have accomplished the past hundred years or so! Cars, boats, planes. Gigantic buildings that put any tree to shame. Medical advances, like improved prosthetics for amputees, antibiotics, surgery performed by machine. Plant some seeds and watch them blossom into gigantic flowers, bushes, trees, etc. Look down at your feet and marvel at the way they work, and how much they endure throughout the day. Flex and wiggle your fingers, jump up and down, sprint down the street, put your hand on your chest and feel the continual beat of your heart... miracles, every one. Our God is a creative one, is He not?!

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     There are other things I am thankful for, too. Like people, for instance. What would we do if we didn't have certain people in our lives? How cool is it to have a whole community of others to fall back on? Pretty wonderful, if I do say so myself. (Shout-out to my immediate family, and my church family!)  How thankful I am to have so many people in my life that choose to lift me up, rather than push me down. I am working on being one of those that lift up others, but it's difficult for me. Not because I don't want to be... I enjoy being around other people, but I am not the biggest talker in the world. Just walking up to people and saying hi is a big deal for me, let alone having any kind of deep conversation. However, I have recently noticed that the more I push myself out of my comfort zone, and the more I choose to approach people and talk with them, the better I feel about myself afterward.
     People respond to others noticing them. Even if all you do is ask someone how they're doing, or smile at someone you pass on the sidewalk, or help another person get something down off a high shelf (that happens to tall people like me a lot!) No one deserves to feel as though they are invisible. You may not think that something as small as saying "hello" would help, but TRUST ME it so does. Jesus' light shines just as brightly through little gestures and acts of kindness. 

     I thought I had so much more to talk about; however, I think I'm going to end here. I don't want anyone to feel like I'm preaching to them! 

   

     Again, I want to state the importance of staying thankful. Even if you're having a horrible day, try your best to pick out the little things that you are grateful for. It does your heart a world of good! And remember not to get too bogged down by life. Lift your head up and really LOOK at the world around you. Find the tiny miracles. Listen to your heartbeat. Stand on a beach and try to process that the One who created the powerful waves also created you. Think about those in your life that lift you up. Watch a seed sprout and grow. Say hi to the people you pass that seem downtrodden. Jump on a plane and watch the whole take-off process. Marvel at how beautifully creative God is. Because, as my new friend stated so exuberantly, "Wow! This is so cool! How is this even possible?! I don't believe this, this is amazing! Wow, wow, wow!"

    

     And if he can find excitement in a plane taking off, at almost seventy years old, surely you can find even one small miracle in your life that brings you joy...

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"For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer."

1 Timothy 4:4-5

"Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Reno, Nevada

Wow, indeed!