But I have something that does make me extraordinary. And no, it's not my super ability to balance spoons on my nose, my history with alligator hunting on the Amazon (it's true!), my super loud drum playing despite my quiet personality, my ability to BURN and ruin nacho cheese dip (yes the kind any child could easily melt in the microwave), or my super successful and delicious (non-burnt!) chocolate chip cookies.
Ok, just for the record, I did NOT catch this alligator...I did, however, pay $1.00 to hold him for this picture. And yes, his mouth is tied shut...lol...You didn't think I was THAT crazy, did you?!
But - I DID go alligator hunting at night, on the Amazon River, during the same trip! :)
I have a living God who created me and knew me even before I was born. And I have Jesus. The Son of God, whom He brought to Earth as a man, living and walking, and facing life just as I do...yet never sinning and always loving. Obedient to His Father...even to the point of death on a cross. It is hard for me to understand. I know I never fully will. But it is through HIM that I am made extraordinary.
"The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see they were ORDINARY men with NO special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized then as men who had been WITH JESUS." - Acts 4:13
In waiting for my interview conference, it is easy to have doubt. To question if I am "good" enough, or "smart" enough, or "knowledgeable" enough, or "bold" enough. I am certainly not extraordinarily gifted in using words to explain things, or understanding the history of the entire Bible, or the many other "requirements" I have set in my mind that I "should" have before I go. But the thing is, God has given me a passion. A desire to serve and to love people across the world in any way I can. And I know that He will send me if it is His will. And He will equip me perfectly. I will be adequate not through myself but ONLY through HIM!
I guess the most powerful thing to me in these pictures, is the fact that I didn't have to use any words at first...I was there - serving through the Lord, showing what Jesus looks like, and THEN able to share.
"Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, '...There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved...'" - Acts 4:8,12 (It wasn't Peter doing the talking! It was the Holy Spirit speaking through Him!)
So, though I am definitely "ordinary" on my own...how amazing to know I am never "ordinary" when I have Jesus. How awesome to know that no matter what He calls any of us to do - be a mother or father, work in an office, teach school, write books, public service jobs, and soooo much more, overseas AND from home, we can ALL be extraordinary, if we only choose to serve with our whole heart in Jesus' name.
"'And now, O Lord...give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word...may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant, Jesus.' After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness." - Acts 4:29-31
And that, friends, is what makes ordinary me....AND ordinary you, if you only ask God, believe in the love and sacrifice of His Son Jesus for ALL of us and accept it freely, EXTRAORDINARY!
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