Ordinary Days

Because we are moving to the U.S. in a matter of weeks, questions have been generated.  By far, the most frequently asked question:  What will you miss the most? 

Think about your own life.  There is a rhythm.  There are things in your normal that has become innate, natural, part of who you are and what you do.  There are the big things in your life that demand attention like birthday parties or special events.  Yet, for the most part, life is usually most often marked by the normal.  The day-in-day-out routine that seems effortless until interrupted.  The dash living ... the living that takes place between the year of your birth and the year of your death.  If I live to be 90 years old, I will have celebrated only 90 Christmases.  Yet, in those 90 years, how many trips to the grocery store, routine errands or work days will have passed that were just part of my normal life?  Many.  Many days of ordinary that when taken into full account make up the sum of my living.

With Mother's Day being yesterday, I did a little reflecting on my days spent with my own mother, on my days of early motherhood, and the slipping of time through hands that are unaware of the speed at which time travels.  The little things are the most remembered:  the way my girls would say my name before they reached puberty, the way my Mom's lips would press together when cutting material for a dress she was making ... for me, the way Sunday afternoons drift by, the way mornings rush in a hectic flurry, the way nighttime feels when good nights are said.  These are the things that capture my attention when time is given to entertain the simple treasures of life.

Recently, a friend lost her 14-year-old son in a tragic boating accident.  Another friend has not seen her 3 children in over 9 months due to heartbreaking circumstances.  What each of them wouldn't give for another moment.  I am reminded to cherish days.

Life will never be perfect.  There will be people you wished lived closer.  There are pounds that you wish didn't sit in obvious places.  There are bills left unpaid.  There are struggles left to battle.  Yet ... it's the magic of the ordinary days when captured through the right perspective that makes each day precious.  All it takes is the foresight to recognize the moments as a gift given by a good Father who uses it all for our good and presents each challenge with a promise of His divine and miraculous presence.

What will I miss the most?  The ordinary days lived in my corner of the world.  I'll miss them.  Yet, I'll be grateful for having lived them.  I will be grateful they were lived well.  I will cherish them and not pine away for them.  There are new ordinary days to be lived in the next chapter.

Turning pages into more ordinary,
Christina