There are moments in life that I am forever grateful for; moments that are not only burned into my memory, but deep into my heart as well. There is one moment that so deeply impacted me that I often find myself reflecting back to it, as a reminder that God is faithful.

This memory goes back a few years when I had the opportunity to sit in a room full of pastor’s wives and Kay Warren. I had the chance to hear her speak of family and ministry life. I remember her sharing her heart to be used by God in a significant way. She was telling us that she had resolved in her spirit to always serve the Lord in whatever capacity she could, but found herself comparing herself to others and their God given gifts. She shared of an evening when she was driving to a church meeting in their early days of ministry as she cried out to God in prayer. As she shared her prayer tears began to stream down my face as I recalled writing the almost exact prayer down in my journal just days prior. Maybe you’ve prayed it too:

“Father, I am beyond thankful for the life you’ve given me; salvation, my family, church. But God,.. I so desperately want to make my life count. I want to be used by you, but I feel like I have nothing to offer. No special gift, no special talent. God,.. it’s just me,… ordinary me. Will you use me?”

Kay shared her similar prayer and how God spoke to her that ordinary is more than enough when placed in His hands. I think all of us would sit back and say that Kay has done very well in serving the Lord and that she and her husband have left a wonderful legacy.

I often think back to this conversation as a reminder that when we live a surrendered life to God, He can take just an ordinary person like me and use me to do extraordinary things. I have a lot of dreams and goals of what I want to accomplish in my lifetime, but the most humbling of them all are:

• To serve my family well
• To serve His church well

These may sound very simple and easy to accomplish, but to me they are quite daunting. Family, well, it’s family, and no one ever said raising a family was easy. Serving His church well, that’s not easy either. Both of these things take time, energy and investment (in all areas of life), but I know that as I surrender my life daily to Him – the one who loves my family and His family more than I ever could- has this uncanny way of taking something seemingly ordinary and doing something extraordinary with it.

I’m ready to live an extraordinary ordinary life. Are you?

Be Brave & Have Courage –

Mary