i want adventure in the great wide somewhere

“…it does require the supernatural grace of God to live twenty-four hours of every day as a saint, going through drudgery, and living an ordinary, unnoticed, and ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus.  It is ingrained in us that we have to do exceptional things for God—but we do not.  We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things of life, and holy on ordinary streets, among ordinary people—and this is not learned in five minutes.”  ~ Oswald Chambers

It’s been awhile… I know, but I really struggle with what would be “worthy” to put here.  I don’t have an overarching vision for where I want this blog to go exactly and am learning as I go.  So to my faithful readers—all 4 of you, my parents included—I apologize for keeping you waiting these past few months.  Not that you’ve been waiting on pins and needles…but I digress. 

I’ve discovered in the past six months that life is not as exciting as I envisioned it would be walking wide-eyed across the stage last May to receive my diploma.  Life has become routine.  At the risk of sounding like I’m complaining (which if I were to be honest, I am), I try to remind myself daily that I am in fact blessed beyond measure—just to name a few…

• I have been redeemed by the blood Jesus Christ.  He bore the wrath of God meant for me, and I now stand righteous before a Holy God because of his death and resurrection.  I have been given the Holy Spirit.  And as I write these words, Christ is at the right hand of the Father interceding on my behalf.  I am a child of God…how could it be any better?
• I have a family and friends who love me and a church home that encourages me in the Lord.
• I have a job with full benefits—medical, dental, vision, paid holidays and vacation.  I make enough to keep a roof over my head, to have 3 meals a day—when I make the time to eat breakfast—and to pay the bills.

I know God is trying—with much patience on His part—to teach me to be faithful in the little things—the things that nobody else notices.  But I must confess I’ve been a stubborn student.  The last few months have been spent not learning how to be obedient in the small things, but day dreaming about when God will trust me with the big things like going to grad school or going to a foreign country to teach English and spread the gospel.

Those dreams are not bad in themselves, but I have made them an idol because I have wasted too many hours thinking on them rather than diligently seeking to obey God in the seemingly insignificant and mundane life He has called me to live right now.   But nothing God does or gives His children is insignificant—it is all meant to drive us closer to Him and transform us more into the image of His Son.

God has given me this beautiful gift of time to draw closer to Him by learning trust Him in the ins and outs of everyday life.  While I have acted like that obnoxious kid in the grocery store who pitches a fit when her dad doesn’t buy her the toy or candy she wants. However, God is nothing like the typical father in the grocery store who will eventually give into anything his child demands just to avoid making a bigger scene.  God is patient.  He is wise, and does not give into my foolish demands.

What I want is for God to sanctify me with the snap of His fingers or to use a cooking metaphor because in all my free time, I’ve been trying to learn to cook better—I want God to sanctify me in a microwave when His method is something more or less along the lines of a slow cooker.  God desires to use these get up-go to work-come home-fix dinner-go to bed-repeat days to sanctify me, and I want to rush right past them to get to the extraordinary days.  There’s also an echoing question in my heart—what if I never make it to the so called bigger and better days…but that’s a discussion for another post…

These days of routine God is giving right now are a blessing and gift that I am tired of squandering.  I know it won’t always be fun or easy, but by His grace, I pray I can learn to be faithful in the ordinary.  Dreaming about the future is still alright as long as it doesn’t get in the way of trusting God today.

an explanation

“…memories are not the key to the past, but to the future…the experiences of our lives, when we let God use them, become the mysterious and perfect preparation for the work He will give us to do.”  ~ Corrie Ten Boom

“Hey! Nice to meet you, my name is (insert name here)” says my new acquaintance.

“Yeah, nice to meet you too, I’m Sarah.” 

“So, what’s your major?”

“English,” I reply.

”Oh, ok.  So you’re going to teach.  That’s cool.”

“No, actually I don’t want to teach…”

With a puzzled look on my new acquaintance’s face, he or she interrupts, “Well then what do you want to do with an English degree?”

“I haven’t exactly figured it all out yet, but I would like to be a writer eventually.  What’s your major?”

“Nursing.”

“So I guess that means you’re going to be a nurse?”

“Yep.”

If I had a quarter for every time I had the above conversation, I might be able to pay off my student loans.  Ok, let’s be realistic—it would take many, many, many quarters to pay off my student loans.  So in actuality, I might be able to make couple of payments on my loans with the quarters I would have from every time someone asked me what I would do my English degree besides teach.

Now, 4 months after graduation, I still do not have it all figured out.  When I told people I wanted to write, I secretly had this idea in my head that after graduation, the Lord would lead me to go on some exciting adventure worth writing about—like teaching English in China or working at an orphanage in India.  I wanted to take the gospel to a foreign land with people who had never before heard the name of Jesus.

God had other plans.  He has placed me in a medium size town in Tennessee working as a secretary—not exactly the grandiose dreams I had envisioned.  However, all is certainly not lost because God is at work in this medium size town and in my life.

I'm beginning to see that this part of my story is worth telling because God will use the moments and experiences He gives me now to mold me more and more into the image of His Son and to prepare me for the future He has written for my life. 

These days—or pages—should not be wasted or taken lightly.  The story God has written for my life is unfolding daily, and each page only makes sense in light of the previous ones.  There’s no jumping around or skipping the boring sections to look for more thrilling chapters. 

I’m sharing my story with you because this is not really my story at all; it’s God’s story...the telling of His faithfulness and love in my life with the prayer that it encourages you to recognize His faithfulness and love in your own life.