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Here we go again with another “Five Minute Friday” post!  To learn more about “Five Minute Friday” (FMF), check out the linked image here.  Basically, each week there’s a word given for you to write about.  You start writing, no back-tracking, editing, etc.  At the end of 5 minutes, you stop.  Then you post it, and share in the community of words that were birthed during these 24-ish hours.  It’s cool stuff.
So here’s this week’s response to the word: “ordinary”

We avoid these things like a disease.  Because if you’re truly enjoying life, if you’re doing it right, if you’re the spectacular employee, father, husband, friend, etc…there’s no such thing as “ordinary”.  It’s the same with “average”.  You may as well put a giant stamp on whatever is being described that says, “I didn’t really try.”

But perhaps, there’s more beauty in the ordinary than we give credit.  In a world that’s based on how fast our brains can process information, images, and sales pitches – our hearts are lagging behind.  Our hearts need time to process what a moment feels like.  The gentle breaths of a 3 year old sleeping next to you.  The frigid sunrise as you’re driving early to work.  The unique patterns of frost as the window takes time to melt.  These “ordinary” moments that don’t require any sort of extra “effort”, don’t ask us to “try harder” in order to make a better product.  They are moments we experience every day, quietly slipping by as our brains search for the next really important thing to notice.

I’m a youth pastor, and by the public image of this job – I realize the first thought many people have is how entertaining/fun youth ministries can be.  I won’t argue, I’ve got an obnoxiously fun personality at times.  But I like to think that our ministry, and my personal life as well, are characterized less by requiring the “super (-ficially valuable)”, and more by embracing the ordinary.  Because I think that by embracing the ordinary, we connect ourselves with an incredible God who has already spoken His “Good” over such things…

stop.

Sounds like I’ve got a few thoughts on this, eh?

I just finished watching the movie “Robot & Frank“, available now through Redbox.  A great movie, especially compared to some of the trash you’ll find opening just about any weekend at the box office lately.  This is where I’ll slap on my “grumpy old man who doesn’t understand what happened to quality art in film” face and sulk.  More movies like this should be in theaters for us to choose from, instead of thin romance plots, crass comedies, or predictably over the top action movies.  Movies that pause, and take deep breaths to allow us to both be entertained and challenged to think/feel.

Although I can’t pretend I’m 100% sophisticated muse-ment, when the book I’ve been captured by lately is the most recent installment of the “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”.  I found it at the dollar store, after not even knowing it existed.  Apparently a few years ago a new author picked up permission to add one more book to the incredibly imaginative British comedy science fiction series.  It’s definitely a froody new bit of story, worth checking out if you’re hip to the franchise, or a talking mouse.  GUIDE NOTE: The last time a talking mouse was connected to reading a Christian parenting blog and made itself publicly known, things did not go well.  In fact, you may not be surprised to find out before escaping to his home planet of Cheeseterius, the mouse known as “Chuck” seemed to inspire his own line of pizza restaurant/arcades.  This is ironic because of the one illegal substance on the planet of Cheeseterius – badly recorded digital background video game music.

In the past 24 hours, I’ve played “Princess-Opoly” twice.  That’s two times more than I found myself excited to try it when I first saw the box.  But for real, it’s a game my girls LOVE to play, and as long as I can avoid getting all “competitive” with them, it’s safe for us.  Nevermind the fact that it feels like child trafficking to say things like “I just bought Princess Tatiana for 2 weeks allowance.”, and my girls have informed me that my curtsy needs more than a little work.   I’ve also been taught the difference between a curtsy and a Grande Plie’, which is good because sometimes you just don’t want to send the wrong message.

By now you’re probably greatful that the only time I usually write without much editing/forethought is on “#FiveMinuteFriday“, and those topics are all generally inspiring/uplifting.  Because of that, I think I’ll sneak a little encouraging adoption update in here to reward you.  Are you ready?  We’ve been told that we are “next on the list” in regards to receiving a referral!  What does that mean?  Well, it means that any day/moment, we could get a phone call informing us of a child/story that has been approved for an adoptive family – and we’ll have 72 hours to accept.

Speaking of which……I haven’t played my djembe in a while.

I wish there was a drum circle I could join at a moments notice….:)

Here we go again with another “Five Minute Friday” post!  To learn more about “Five Minute Friday” (FMF), check out the linked image here.  Basically, each week there’s a word given for you to write about.  You start writing, no back-tracking, editing, etc.  At the end of 5 minutes, you stop.  Then you post it, and share in the community of words that were birthed during these 24-ish hours.  It’s cool stuff.
So here’s this week’s response to the phrase: ” what mama did ”  (That’s what I went with, at least….because it was hard to pick “a word” without doing a buncha thinking ahead of time.)

What to choose from?  What to write about?  My mom will totally end up reading this, because that’s the kinda mom she is.  Even at 31 years old, she still keeps tabs on who this young boy has become.  That’s what mama did.   That’s what mama does.

She never allowed my lot (or hers, or ours, for that matter) to be chosen by what life handed us.  As a single mom of 5 for many years, she had humility to know there was something we needed that was beyond what she could offer.

She was a “Mama Bear”, and the kind that gave it a definition.  Yet she knew her cubs wouldn’t be whole without something larger.  She kept us involved in the Church and life-transforming liturgy (the work of the people).  She connected us with opportunities that called greatness into, and out of us.  She even found a man who had a lot of experience calling that greatness out of people, and he invited us to be his children as well…as he made her his bride.  Certainly she was capable of much – going back to school, starting a new career, caring for a large family at the same time.  But one of the greatest things that mama did?  She pointed her children to a bigger picture of Hope for tomorrow – based not in human accomplishments, but a solid Hope in something Christ-ish. 🙂

Done.

There ya’ go mom.  And it’s not even Mother’s Day.  😉