Hold On, Let Me Grab My Cape

I was taking a 2.5 year-old to the park today with a friend.  The little girl was suited up in her winter coat, boots, hat, all ready to go and she stopped and said, "Hold on, let me grab my cape."

She wanted to be prepared for the extraordinary.  (Afterward, she ran around yelling "Super Bunny" - it was pretty entertaining.)  But I want to get back to the "let me grab my cape" comment.

This 2.5 year-old just wanted to grab her cape for the dress-up aspect of it all.  She wanted to play a part and it was fun for her; however, it sure did make me think.  When I go out for the day am I thinking, "Hold on [world], I need my cape"?  That is, am I suiting up for extraordinary things? Do I even aspire to the extraordinary?

And what is extraordinary anyway?  Prior to the "great addition" (aka my baby), I would get up, commute (gah!), go to work, see some awesome people, commute (double gah!), eat supper with my husband, and maybe take in a tv show or two before falling asleep.  Nothing super extraordinary in there - or is there?

Sometimes, my commute would include these awesome and epic prayer times.  Extraordinary.  My job (as a youth pastor) would sometimes include life-changing conversations.  Extraordinary.  The awesome people I would see would invest into me, and (I hope) vice versa.  Extraordinary.  I would get to spend time with my husband and sometimes even dream with him in some really cool ways.  Extraordinary.  And then, oh yeah, nothing overly extraordinary about the tv shows I'd watch.  But you see, the ability to infuse extraordinary into the day is possible, but being aware of it helps a great deal too.

Extraordinary things rarely "just happen". We need to be on board, ready for them to happen.  Working hard to make them happen.  Awesome prayer times with God don't just happen.  Some days they are anything but extraordinary, but other days they are incredible and surprising.  But if I stopped when they stopped being extraordinary, there would be no hope of them becoming extraordinary once again (because I'd given up on them).

It's the same with work.  Often work is not much to write home about.  Planning details.  Building spreadsheets.  Plugging in dates into calendars.  Mundane.  But sometimes there are life changing conversations.  Times that I am able to empower a leader, encourage a student, or cry with a co-worker.  These times are extraordinary.  If I gave up or gave in when life wasn't this way, I'd never experience God's extraordinary moments for me.

Ephesians 5 says:
¹⁵ So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. ¹⁶ Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. ¹⁷ Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.

And so, I want to live each day prepared to be a part of the extraordinary by making the most of every opportunity.  Hold on, let me grab my cape.