It’s ridiculous really how much of our lives we consider “ordinary.”
My oldest crept into bed next to me the other night because Wednesdays are the nights we offer an open call in our bed. This is mostly to try and keep them out of it all the other nights.
So Wednesdays are holy nights because Peter crams himself into the bottom bunk next to our middle boy — the one who shares his name. And our oldest, the one who has mine, comes and crawls into the big bed next to me.
Of course, they never go straight to sleep.
Because under cover of darkness and twinkle lights are when boys will spill all their secrets and their secret worries.
It’s there under the blankets they’ll ask you if their breath really does stink — or if you’ve ever flown through the Bermuda triangle.
Their questions will surprise you and if you’re not careful you’ll find your mind wandering to the sink still full of dishes or the emails you haven’t returned.
But if you pay attention, you’ll find that you’re living the extra part of your ordinary. Right there at 9:15pm on a Wednesday night.
After getting back too late from the pool or the baseball game. There is music dancing down the hall and the baby girl blowing kisses from her bed and the nearly ten-year-old confessing to you that he worries people will make fun of him if he keeps sleeping with his blankie.
So you lean in close and tell him there are big strapping college boys who cart their blankies off with them, hidden in the bottom of their suitcases, and you hope that he never gets embarrassed by admitting the things he loves.
You watch as his hair falls just so across his eyebrows — it probably needs to be cut again. And how without his glasses his lazy eye wanders with interest across your face and you can’t even believe these tall, gangly limbs were once folded in prayer inside your belly.
And here it is — the real life living answer to those prayers. He’s lying across from you in the rumpled bed and you dared to think your life ordinary?
No, these are the moments for kneeling in laughter and mystery and delight as you absorb every nuance on that face that can split your gut in ridiculous jokes one minute and crunch your heart the next with disrespect and frustration.
This is living.
Not just the making room for it with clean floors and plates and toothbrushes put away and sinks wiped down (why on earth can’t they ever remember to rinse the sink? I mutter every night).
No this is what those spaces are made for.
They hold room for the people.
And it’s the people that make us extraordinary.
These people who are always a gift and a living, breathing reminder of the imprint of God left uniquely and divinely on each of them.
I have a tray in my house that says,
“Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” {Hebrews 13:2.}
I think too often I’ve kept one eye on the door, waiting to be amazed by the strangers in my midst. When really it’s those I know best — the most familiar — and sometimes the irritating that I most take for granted that are the most holy mentions of God with us. Immanuel.
No, don’t believe ordinary for a minute.
Your life is so full of glory it will weigh you down if you just stop to feel it every once in a while. If you stop to let it sink down deep into your here and now.
So my son scoots his tiny butt under the covers, and I settle next to him to hear about the lunch room chatter of the day, and next door the same familiar bedtime music plays, someone farts, someone else laughs too loudly . . . and deep in my soul I can feel the Amen.
[linebreak]
Jedidja says
Thanks. This is a good blog to read. It comforts and it encourages. This is living!
Lisa-Jo Baker says
Love hearing you find encouragement here!
Bev @ Walking Well With God says
Lisa-Jo,
I loved this post…I read it and I laughed, I sighed, I reflected, and I said, “Yes” she gets it!! Even as my kids got older into their middle and high school years, I felt a need to be present – there in the ordinary – because you never know when a moment of glory is coming and I didn’t want to miss it. Middle and high school aged boys open up even less and by being present and intentional we catch the thoughts and questions of these little-boys-in-big-packages, blankie-toting boys. So blessed by your post this am.
Blessings,
Bev xx
Lisa-Jo Baker says
I knew you’d so be able to relate 🙂 thanks Bev!
Patty Romack says
So beautifully put, Lisa-Jo; it’s so easy to to lose sight of what’s right under our nose! My we never lose the wonder and awe that comes with those babies God gives us!
Lisa-Jo Baker says
Amen to that – especially on the days we feel like we’re drowning in dishes and dirty laundry 🙂
Meri says
Thanks for this post – i need to cherish every moment with my babies – thanks you
Lisa-Jo Baker says
Thanks Meri – and I know some moments are definitely easier to cherish than others 🙂
Veronica says
Hi Lisa-Jo, Today, my husband and I will celebrate twenty-two years of marriage. Some days, I lose sight of what really matters. Thank you for this post.
Lisa-Jo Baker says
Wow congrats Veronica! What a beautiful milestone!
Paige Estes says
Love this, Lisa-Jo. I was thinking about this very thing this morning while I sat at the kitchen table for my quiet time and my little came clomp clomping down the stairs, shirtless (of course) with his wake up face and fuzzy hair spot from his pillow, still hanging onto “Fwog.” He peeks around the corner, to see if I tell him its too early to be up, and when I open my arms instead, he stomps run over and I can still pick him up and put him in my lap. He snuggles right into my shoulder and we just sit for a few minutes before the day begins. This is the good stuff in life. God, help me never ever forget.
Lisa-Jo Baker says
Sigh, yes, the very best stuff.
Garden Wren says
It’s all too easy to let the little things, the beautiful moments of less than perfection, the random, unsolicited “big fat hugs” so freely given by an adoring 3 year old princess, the glorious sounds of laughter, the precious childhood amazement and wide eyed wonder in everyday life slip by us without so much as a passing thought. With so much happening in our growing family and so much still needing to be done yet to make ready for the arrival of our second little princess I often find myself, between being overwhelmed and exhausted, so focused on my dreadfully behind “to do list” that I sometimes miss out on such wondrous moments. It’s in moments like this, quiet and still, that God gently reminds me that this life is about far more than what I need to get done, more than the floors that desperately need mopping, more than all the work needed to prepare the nursery and remodel Autumn’s “big girl suite”, more than my own anxieties and worries about the future… Life is happening all around me, the here and now present, and that the most extraordinary things are the beautiful, simple, catch you off guard moments that I often take for granted… It’s my sincere prayer that when the kids are grown and living beautiful moments of their own that I’ll never look back with regret for not having cherished the gifts so graciously given to me in my own precious moments with them.
Rebecca Tellez says
H sister these are such precious times. Do take time to cherish them. I worked three jobs as a single mom and missed so many perishable moments. In my twilight years, these are m major regrets.
Lisa-Jo Baker says
Yea I get caught up in the “to-dos” just as much as the next person. And so I’m so grateful when I’ve slowed down enough to recognize my extraordinary moments as they sneak up on me.
Kim@onerebelheart says
This is a very busy season in our home and I needed this reminder to stop and breathe in the extraordinary all around me. The other evening I took my granddaughter outside onto the deck and we got up close and personal with a tree frog (they’re everywhere in Virginia! Why is this?), even gently touching it and pronouncing it “weird”. These are the moments that we should cherish and long for, reaching past the to-do list to find open space where we can just be.
Kim@onerebelheart says
P. S. My ten year old still sleeps with her blankie too. Don’t tell her I told you though.
Lisa-Jo Baker says
This made me grin so big!
Rebecca Tellez says
What great reminder for each of us to watch for the extra in our ordinary day. May we have many of those today. Yesterday as I was hanging clothes on my clothesline I was blessed with a bird taking a bath in our backyard pond and a handful of raspberries for a snack from my vines. A gift from my Father in my ordinary day.
Lisa-Jo Baker says
Oh love that – yes, we will have chaos and busy and then right in the middle God will sneak up on us and surprise us with His glory, won’t He?
Rosie Bachand says
i am not a mom so i haven’t experienced these “Wednesday night open call”.but i do know this is lovely and you are a great mom.
Lisa-Jo Baker says
Grateful for the encouragement – thanks Rosie!
Linda N says
This tugged at my heart so much. My sons are young adults now, but I treasure those cuddle-times from when they were young and now treasure the times we’re together just talking about whatever. My husband (their Dad) passed away 13 years ago which really punctuates the preciousness of the “ordinary” times together. Beautiful post!
Lisa-Jo Baker says
Thanks Linda – and I look forward to getting to know my three as they move into this older phase now too. It’s’ a gift to see their personalities unfolding.
Caryn Jenkins Christensen says
Aaah, I found myself smiling all the way through every word Lisa Jo, especially this, “…and you can’t even believe these tall, gangly limbs were once folded in prayer inside your belly.” Thanks for this sweet reminder to thank the Lord for every “ordinary” gift. Stopping to do that right this minute. <3
Lisa-Jo Baker says
I’m constantly astounded that I grew these tiny humans! 🙂 And constantly amazed at the people they’re becoming. I don’t always slow down enough to pay attention, but when I do it’s so beautiful!
Kristen Linkletter Rekker says
Thank you once again for another dose of encouragement as we slog through the days. The days of holy moments… often need that reminder!
Lisa-Jo Baker says
Yea, because many days ARE a slog – and that’s OK too. Just makes me really grateful for the glimpses of glory I can catch between the dishes and the car pool 🙂
Penny says
Lisa Jo,
This was such a joy to read, thank-you so much for posting it and reminding us not to take for granted anything in life.
My son still hangs on to all four of his blankies too. It’s even hard to pry them away to be washed.
Blessings,
Penny
Lisa-Jo Baker says
Blankies for the win 🙂
Susan says
Cracks me up! Lisa-Jo always just tells it like it is…bad breath, farts, you know, all of the real life stuff!!!
Lisa-Jo Baker says
Yup, SO many fart jokes with boys 🙂
Susan says
LJ, I raised two boys and one girl – I know exactly what you mean. And, now that everyone is an adult? Guess what? Fart jokes still abound. UGH!!! LOL!!!
Brenda says
Isn’t that true–that little boys like to spill their hearts at night. It doesn’t really seem to change as they get older either. You’re wise to be present in those moments, because when they are older, they’ll remember that you listen, and that they can trust you with their thoughts. Mercy, how they grow up fast.
Thanks for the sweet reminder today to “feel the amen.” 🙂
Lisa-Jo Baker says
Yea I am so enjoying getting to know them as they grow into themselves. It’s so fascinating to see who they’re becoming!
Becky Keife says
This makes me heart ache–the good kind–because it’s all so true. We are living the gift. Let us not down play it, bemoan it, or wish it away in next-stage longing. The ordinary glory is NOW. Yes, yes. Thanks, Lisa-Jo.
Beth Williams says
Lisa-Jo,
Thanks for an enlightening post!
Kaitlin_Perceptions&Passions says
Beautiful!! I loved this. Sometimes in the morning I look at my three piled under the covers and I look at my husband and sigh. Is this really my life?! There are elbows in my ribs and two of them are fighting over which show to set my phone to play via Netflix, oh and it’s 6AM…living the good life.
cindy says
Truly delightful and resets the perspective on my day….
Diana says
Thank you…
Caryn says
Ty Lisa Jo! I love reading your blogs! My twin girls start kindergarten on August 5th and I find my heart so deeply saddened by this bc I love our time together! At the same time I’m really excited for their new adventure together in school! I’m SO grateful to God that I’ve been able to stay home with them since birth and now they’re going to half day kinder. Very hard pill to swallow, but the realization of this has deepened my appreciation of our time together. My little guy will be 3 this Friday and the time is just going by way too fast. Sigh…