Ordinary....

This past week in my scripture study, I've had one word on my heart.

Ordinary....

We all live ordinary lives. We all get up in the morning and go to sleep at night. Yes we have struggles...and demons we face. We have relationships failed and love that is lost. We deal with grief, depression, anger, hurt, etc. We've all had moments of despair in this life that we're living.

We've also experienced great joy and happiness. We've felt love and responsibility. We've felt excitement for what's to come. We can all relate to these emotions because we've all felt them.

Our lives, when taken at face value, are quite ordinary.

But when we dive deeper, we see something outstanding. We see the fingerprints of an extraordinary God. A God who saves us. A God who lifts us up when we are too weak to stand. A loving Father in Heaven who gives us sadness, so we can truly relish in the joy.

This month marks two years since my dear brother left this Earth. Although it absolutely breaks my heart to write that, I can now look back and see God's fingerprints on my life...I see him in the day to day.

I remember when I got the call that my brother was dead, I fell to the floor because the grief had overwhelmed me and I could no longer stand. I sat and sobbed for what felt like an eternity, but was actually only a few moments because soon after I collapsed, something extraordinary happened. I felt loving arms enshroud me. My God knew I was broken. My Saviour knew I needed His help to carry the burden that was placed on my shoulders and heart that night.

I can look back on these two years and see God's mighty hand. He wasn't punishing myself and my family by taking my brother much too soon, but he gave us an opportunity to lean on him.

About a year after Philip died, I had a dream about him. We we're driving in the car laughing. In my dream the realization came to me that it wasn't real. I woke up in tears. I called to tell my mom what had happened and she shared a great comfort with me. She said maybe the dream was God's way of letting us know Philip was happy. He was back home and was OK. He had been released from whatever demons plagued him in this world. Now I can cling to that little bit of grace God gave me.

He knows our hearts so well, for he created them. He knows we will have disappointment in this life. We will have dreams that will die. Sometimes people will let us down or hurt us, but thankfully we can continue on because we walk with Christ. He gives us strength and shelter. He allows us to do the hard things.

Whatever you are going through today, I pray you take a moment to look for God's fingerprints. I promise they are all around.

We may be ordinary men and women, living ordinary lives, but through our Savior Jesus Christ extraordinary things can happen :)

XO Danielle