Why ordinary saint?

It is somewhat of a misnomer,ordinarysaint.But I didnt choose this pseudonym without thinking about it.Because I didnt want you to read it without thinking about it.Everybody cant be extraordinary.If we were well,extraordinary would be ordinary.And maybe thats where Im leaning.There is something in everyones life that is not ordinary.

Therefore Ordinary

Saint.The Catholic view is that a saint is one who posseses extra holiness.Catholics generally have to wait for significant posthumous decomposition to be titled a saint.Christianity affords no such waiting period.We have the responsibility upon adoption.

Therefore Saint

Essentially there should be nothing ordinary about a saint.But we slog through life like everyone else.We get laid off,we lose friends,we fail as husbands and wives.We secretly enjoy breadsticks at Olive Garden way to much.
But we shouldnt slog.
The ordinary part is that we are human.
The extraordinary part is that we are saints.
The second should say more about us than the first.

Tailor Made Life

I may be slow.In fact I am slower to catch on than a slug swimming through cold molasses.But it dawned bright and sunny on me recently how much my life as been made for me.Yup,now you see how slow I am.
But wait,there's more.

You life has been made for you too(now you're beginning to wonder about me)

I dont think most of us really understand what Im saying though.We spend so much time trying to escape our lives or avoid the storyline,searching for someone elses plot.We have a bad work environment or a spouse that doesnt meet our expectations or "daddy wasnt there". But rarely do we ask "why?" Not why me? but why?The why-me's only look to the great life of everybody around them(not realizing that the "great lifers" are looking back at them thinking the same thing)and wonder why God stuck it to them so badly.
Instead shouldnt we ask what the reason is for our discontent?"What is God teaching me through this" instead of  "what can I do to get out of this situation" should be our question.
We miss out.And,I think,we often go thru' the same difficulty time and again when we only seek to escape it, not unlike the prisoner who is a month away from his release and decides to escape.When caught he is returned to his cell with even more time to spend incarcerated.Sometimes doing your time and understanding the real value in it is the only way to escape.I see you raising your hand with the What Abouts? What about the abusive husband,the lousy job,etc?My friend Capt.Obvious would state the uh,obvious here.Call the cops on the husband and turn in your applications for the better job and then sit down and consider how you were expected to grow and be growing thru' this.God is in the details.God does care.He is the helicopter parent always meddeling in our lives,rightly.He has knit us together and is the Orchastrator of our lives.While spinning this earthly basketball on His finger tips He is also designing your life and mine so that you and I may grow.Living life trying to escape it is like going to the corn maze and running around the outside till you reach the exit and exclaiming "TAAA-DAA! I made it!" If your feet didnt get muddy,if you didnt reach a dead end,if you didnt laugh then you didnt do the maze and you arent living.

If you are following me so far and still interested,do this exercize with me.Be warned,looking in the mirror closely reveals many bulbous zits.Look at your faults.Sin actually,for the sake of honesty.Lifes difficulties allow you to respond according to your weakness.Or Gods strength.The more often you look to Gods strength the more often you rely on it,adopting Gods character as your own.
Your life is not a cheap suit.Dont wear it as such.

Books Im reading..

I cant quite call it a "book review" but Im nearly a 100 pages in to the biography "Bonhoeffer:Pastor,Martyr,Prophet,Spy" by Eric Metaxas.Its pretty incredible reading about Bonhoeffers view of the German church of his day,the belief in cheap grace as he called it and his promotion and living out a costly grace.Im pretty impressed just reading of his ministry while in his early 20s and the maturity in which he handled working along side a less than enthused minister in a fledgling congregation.Im looking forward to reading more of his life and death and suspect that his life will challenge me in my spiritual walk.Check it out for yourself.

A couple more books that have encouraged (or in the last case,entertained) me:
If You Bite and Devour One Another by Alexander Strauch
So far a real good book handling conflict in the church body and relationships
Notes from the Tilt-O-Whirl By N.D. Wilson
What can I say but this will be required reading to my son as he is growing and required to read when he is able.Stop reading this and order Wilsons book.What are you still doing here?Go order Notes!
Valley of Vision Puritan Prayer book various authors
This prayer book has given me a real good insight of where I stand before my Creator
The Gun by Chris Childers
Yeah,you didnt expect to see this after all those^ but this is a pretty good history of  the gun that has been instrumental in building up and tearing down dictators and regimes since 1947 thee AK47