The Ordinary

"You've spoiled me for the ordinary ..."  was what one man said as he reflected on his visit to ZOE over the past week at a team debriefing this morning.

I knew what he meant.   I sat, close to tears, as each member of the short term mission team went around the circle and described how this trip to Thailand had impacted their world and changed their view on "life" as they had known it.  

I found it encouraging to be reminded about the emotions that I too had felt, on my first visit to ZOE.  It was so amusing to hear the anecdotes of their first experiences using a 'squatty potty'- I still find it tricky!  But, it was also so moving to see their tears as they recounted experiences of how the ZOE children, teens and Bible School students had touched their hearts and impacted them more than anyone else had before.  

As wonderful as it was to hear all the stories of the past week, I also understand how hard it will be for them to return home.  How will they articulate what they saw, felt, lived and breathed while they were here?

It is easy to be on an emotional high and describe life when you are in a different country for a short period of time. However, once at home with your bags unpacked, pictures shown and stories told; your "old" routines stare you straight in the face!  How can you return to life as you knew it, not changed by what you've seen? 

You know though, despite living in a foreign country (which can often be filled with adventure) there is STILL so much time that is filled up with the ordinary moments of life- grocery shopping, making dinner, cleaning.  So, I have to remind myself that each moment is a gift from the God no matter how mundane and "unspiritual" it may seem.  

I seek to fully understand that if anything matters, everything matters. I can make each day count whether I am working in a children's home in Thailand, teaching my children good manners at home, or simply sweeping the floor for the sixth time that day.  Even though I feel like I fail at seeing this perspective so often, I really want to live my life with a heart that embraces all the moments in time whether they seem exciting, breathtaking or just plain "ordinary".