Shadows of discouragement can ride up like a highway man in the night and and steal away all the silver linings. – Ann Voskamp
Escape from the Ordinary
I love to travel, explore new places, meet new people. Just thinking about planning a trip somewhere new makes my heart pound faster. My soul yearns to see architectural wonders, historic sites where saints once trod, taste exotic cuisine, inhale the breath of the city, converse with strangers, observe new culture. I begin feeling like a parched sponge ready to soak up some water if enough time passes without that kind of stimulation.
I’m in one of those seasons. The ordinary feels stifling, heavy. Do you feel it?
The mundane shoves joy right away, leaves me empty. I clean up the mess of dishes in the sink only to do it all over in a few hours, put clothes on hangers when they will return to the hamper before the week ends. It all seems futile. Deplete of inspiration.
I don’t enjoy being apathetic, it isn’t like me. Discouragement? Seems ridiculous when all around me is abundance overflowing.
Grace Breaks Through Discouragment
As I wait in my van, stuck in the string of cars idling until that school bell releases my child, I listen to Sara Groves sing on Pandora. I hear, his blood is real, not just a symbol of your faith and that truth, it unlocks the tears, cracks off the weight. Right there in the pick-up line.
My heart breaks. Realize that I live as though he somehow cheated me from contentment because what I have simply isn’t enough. His blood pours and I see clear. The hunger for more that thinks He isn’t enough. It reveals my own frailty.
I sat in the garden and took the apple of ingratitude. Ate it and felt its poison afterward.
His grace rescues me.
Heavy Hearts Lift Here
Later, I bask in his presence, feast on his words, engage in conversation, shift into peace.
It’s not wrong to dream of visiting new places, escape the mundane. I will continue to do that. While I remain grateful in the ordinary, and content with what is real.
How are you feeling today?
You know, Shelly, I don’t need to write. You say it all for me! This post reminds me to reread the book “Practicing the Presence of God”.
Not getting off the hook that easy. You still need to write! Thanks for the encouragement and taking the time to comment.
It is a powerful reminder to “be grateful for the ordinary”. It is often only when extraordinary circumstances intervene in our sometimes percieved mundane activities of daily living that we wish we had not taken that bite from the apple of ingratitude. I remain thankful for your beautiful thoughts.
Yes, I agree Paula. Thanks!
SO nice to meet you! And to have so much in common! Makes me smile. Your photos are absolutely beautiful! Truly!
Deidra, thanks so much. This blogging world is just incredible!