February 2022
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for God.
– Romans 12:1-2 (The Message)
Sometimes we get caught up in the mundane monotony of life. We wake up, we drink our coffee, we get some work done, eat lunch, work some more, watch tv, eat dinner, walk around, go to bed. Day in and day out. It can be hard to find God in it. But what if the ordinary moments are where God lives? What if the mundane things are actually sacred?
I was listening to someone talk about grief the other day and she shared that, when people talk about their loved ones, they say what they miss the most are the little things: the way the screen door slammed when they got home from school; the pitter-patter of their feet when they walked down the stairs; the glimmer in their eye when they told a bad joke.
For today I invite you to make a list of where you find God in the ordinary. Think of all the little silly things that bring you joy. Whether it's that feeling of the cool side of the pillow or the sting of the hot water when you're freezing cold and hop in the shower.
This is my list:
I find God in the smiling eyes of my best friend’s brand new twin babies.
I find God in dancing with my beautiful nephew and seeing him chow down on a mango rind and hearing his laugh.
I find God in the glistening snow outside my window while I sit here cozied up with a book and a blanket and my cat, Velcro, on my lap.
I find God in the ways my spouse laughs at the silliest things, and the way he makes up new words to familiar songs, or sings the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song to the tune of an old hymn.
I find God in the smile someone gives under a mask when I can only tell they're smiling when I look at their eyes. Maybe that's the gift of masks. They force us to look one another in the eye.
I find God in the bunny tracks I see in the snow, and in the way the seagulls fly across the sunrise over Lake Michigan.
I find God in the flicker of a candle.
And in the taste of an Oreo dipped in peanut butter.
I find God in these little magical moments. Friends, what are those little things that allow you to trust that this life, although it may not be perfect, is worth it. That not everything is terrible. That good exists. That God is real amidst it all.
With love,
Pastor Kelsey
