10 Ordinary, Boring, Mundane Things that Bring Joy to Us and Glory to God
This May Brynna will turn 12 years old. To be honest, we weren’t sure we would ever make 12 days, much less 12 years. Today I was watching her walk across the living room unassisted as she plopped herself down to watch her seven billionth episode of Blue’s Clues. For some reason I was stunned in that moment at just how much she had grown and how much she had changed. I always think of Brynna as “the baby” though she is far from it and today, that hit home.
It’s been several years since we’ve had a real scare with her. We’ve settled into a pretty routine rhythm. Life is, well, mundane actually. We get up at the same time every day. We go through the same routine. Day in and day out. It doesn’t change much.
Every school day we get her up at 6:30, get her dressed and brush her teeth. Then she takes her morning feed, by G-button, and waits until we can do her hair for the day. While she waits we pack her bags, make her bed, and do a few other minor chores around the house.
We leave the house at 7:30 and are off to school. She comes home around 2:30 and relaxes on the floor as she watches either Blue’s Clues, The Fresh Beat Band, or Victorious. She loves the slapstick style of comedy these types of shows can bring her.
Sometime during the evening she will sit on the couch with Mom and read a book or just decompress from a long day of physical therapy and mental challenge. Around 7:30 it’s off to bed. We give her night medications, tuck her in, and bid her a restful night.
Then we do it all over again. Mundane.
It’s easy to get all hyped up when God grants healing or provision in a spectacular way, when the test results are negative or the new job comes through. It’s harder to find joy and lasting peace when nothing outstanding is going on; when it’s just business as usual.
As I sat there today thinking about how far Brynna has come, I thought of several things that proved to me God is far better than we had even hoped. Here are ten of them.
She got up today, at home, not in the hospital.
She hugged me this morning and gave me a kiss.
She took her feeding without throwing up.
She drank from a glass.
We had all of her supplies and medications when it came time to give them.
She has outgrown her pajamas (sort of tough to do when you don’t produce your own growth hormone).
Her physical therapist came to our home for a session.
She “read” a book to the little girl in the mirror.
Her siblings love her just as she is.
She calls her mom “Momma”. My favorite of all.
When she was about to be born and shortly thereafter, we prayed for God to heal her completely, physically. We asked Him to do what He did with Lazarus, Malchus, and Bartimaeus. He said, “No.” Instead, he heals her every single day by letting her live what is sometimes a boring, mundane, ordinary life … and it’s awesome.
More than watching and seeing the things in her I should be grateful for, I love to see her react to the world around her. Every day is a new day in some respects. Like every time a character on TV falls down and she laughs until she cries. Every time we play Peek-A-Boo and she giggles like it is the first time. Every time I ask for a kiss and she leans out to plant one on my cheek.
These are the times I cherish the most. These are the times that help me remember how great and how good God is to us. These are the times that keep us pressing on, that strengthen our faith and solidify our resolve.
Give thanks for something boring and ordinary this week. Then, thank God He let you have it.
