Grace for the Ordinary

[I]f the prophet had told you to do something extraordinary, would you not have done it? All the more now, since he said to you, ‘Wash and be clean,’ should you do as he said. // 2 Kings 5:13

You know the saying, "Pics or it didn't happen!"? Within it are layers of meaning, including a sense that if you can't show something for what you've done, it didn't count. Take it further: without social-media worthy photos, did you even try?

I started blogging over a decade ago, and I've seen (and been influenced by) the pressures to have perfectly-staged but candid photos. I strived to show what an idyllic day I had with my kids, to highlight the romantic date with my husband, to tell the story of an exquisite brunch with friends. I worked angles, edited photos, and composed words to turn my ordinary into extraordinary.

If it wasn't extra, it wasn't enough, and perhaps neither was I.

Like Naaman, who thought the Jordan river was inadequate, I wanted whatever I did to be extraordinary. The ordinary couldn't possibly be enough.

Or could it?

I found the answer from Saint Josemaria Escriva: "Correspondence to grace is to be found also in the ordinary little things of each day, which seem unimportant and yet have the over-riding importance of Love" (The Forge, 686).

The ordinary is exactly what God wants of me. It's in the ordinary moments that God offers me grace and asks me to open my heart to Him.

As I lean into this grace, I let go of the "pics or it didn't happen" mentality more and more. I'm content (mostly) to live the hidden life, doing the simple things well and lovingly, with the goal of home being a refuge of love and joy for my family. Beautiful gatherings and photos to tell the story still delight me, but only as long as I don't let "staged perfection" steal our joy. It matters far more that I do well for my family needs and let God's grace do the extraordinary work.

The Lord is calling you and me to something today, sister. Don't let the simplicity of it fool you. Open your heart to the movements of grace in your ordinary day for this is where the Lord wants to do something extraordinary.

Open your heart to the movements of grace. // Gina FenstererClick to tweet

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About Gina Fensterer

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Gina Fensterer is a wife of 20 years and mother of six children. She is passionate about finding God in the ordinary moments of her vocation. She loves Adoration, praying with Scripture, long morning walks, and fitness. She was a contributing author to And Hay Became Holy and our children's devotional prayer book called Rise Up. Read more by her here.