Just Ordinary.

This morning I rolled out of bed and found my way to the shower. It's really amazing that I haven't injured myself yet. Nothing out of the ordinary has happened, so I'll write a little just about the "ordinary." Today I'm on duty and there are four new arrivals coming in. Being on duty isn't half bad but it means that I work after hours...so in all honesty, it kinda stinks.

On Wednesday mornings at 8 the head Steward leads a devotion for the whole department. This morning he read a chapter out of the book, Wild At Heart. Devotions finished around 8:30, and then the hospitality crew gathered in our office to discuss a little bit of the days work. After we made up a few cabins Jenny, Emily and I started cleaning our final(!!!) guest cabin. :) Emphasis on final because it takes forever to clean one. Now I'm a professional at cleaning shower drains...woohoo. We had a break at 10, and I went to sip some coffee. After break, while we were finishing the cabin, the three of us started talking about prayer. We talked about how to pray and if we had ever been taught to pray. I must have unconsciously mentioned that my family grew up having devotions every morning together because they both stopped me and asked me more about "prayers"(the name for our devotion time). A little shocked at their eagerness to know about it, I found myself realizing how blessed I have been to grow up with parents who've instilled God's Word into my life at a very young age--even if I was half asleep most of the time :) (it's amazing how much has actually stuck!). Actually, I've been blessed, simply, by parents who love the Lord.

I'm very thankful for the more extreme things I get to do and see here (observing surgery, visiting prisons and orphanages), and I've learned so much about how needy the world is and how rich I am in comparison. But those things are really just the visible part of the iceberg of my learning. The majority of my learning is underneath the water's surface, spread out among the small, ordinary things of each day. Whether it's seeking the interests of the authority in my job, respecting my cabin mates by doing my part of cabin cleaning, sitting with someone who I have to make an effort to talk to, or even just talking about what prayer is, it is through these mundane things that God has shown me Himself. His kindness, His compassion, His patience, His self-control, His love, His faithfulness. And at the end of the day, when my shortcomings are the only things I seem to notice, He gently turns my eyes to Jesus and fills me up with thanksgiving.