There is something to be said for ordinary. Ordinary sets the stage for the extraordinary. Without the everyday, commonplace happenings . . . the morning mug of steaming coffee, quiet moments spent reading, making shopping lists and folding laundry, the extraordinary would not stand out at all.
To think that a massive collection of metal and bolts and dials and engine parts could lift off the ground and fly through the air is extraordinary . . . but to a bird, it is commonplace, customary, ordinary.
And the ordinary can become extraordinary over time. With the advent of new technology the ways most of us do things have changed dramatically. What was once an amazing jaw-dropping sight to those who travelled by horse and buggy has now become the ordinary . . . and the horse and buggy, extraordinary.
Reading at Ann Voskamp’s today I thrilled to the story of hundreds of ordinary farmers who came together to do what they have done all their lives. But in this setting it became extraordinary and the entire harvest was donated to combat world hunger. What is there inside ordinary little me that can make an extraordinary difference to someone today? What is there in you?
Thank you for stopping by my blog and your kind comments.
ReplyDeleteI think there is no ordinary. Everything is special, in their own way.
I like your photos. You are gifted.
To think that a massive collection of . . .
ReplyDeleteI wondered that the other day when I climbed on a humongous plane, fully loaded. How do those things stay airborne?
I see a cross in your top photo. :)
Andrea Dawn:
ReplyDeleteYour post today is an extension of some of my thoughts on education that I was writing down on a job application this morning at the request of the employer. Here is a piece of it:
As I taught I became aware that a well-planned situational exercise where the content of the lesson is experienced was worth thousands of words on the subject. The concept, culture, lends itself well to such learning for it is insidious and is, therefore, out of the awareness of an individual until something out of the ordinary crosses its path and "disrupts" its fluidity. The experiential exercise is meant to stimulate such disruptions that force intentional actions needed to restore fluidity. It is the debriefing of those choices that are made at the problem-solving stage of the disruption that makes for fruitful learning.
I wholeheartedly agree that it is the extraordinary that causes us to reflect. Anything different makes us pause until it becomes the norm. I loved this post.
Sandra, I didn't even notice the plane in the first picture until I went back up to the photo at your prompting. NOW that picture has moved from fantastic to magnanimous in my thinking!
Way to go, Andrea Dawn! I'm still excited for the Scavenger Hunt pictures...tomorrow?
Dawn
Andrea Dawn, I love the twist you put on this ordinary and extraordinary...especially about the horse and buggy...that is something to stop and think about. blessings to you, sister:}:} {and thanks for visiting Fan the Flame and 31 Days to His heart}
ReplyDeleteThis is all wonderful... but the first photo is indeed a jewel... and all you say as well!
ReplyDeleteI think so many kids, today, and perhaps forever, try to be different but what they are saying is... they want to be extraordinary.
I have come from the place of wanting to be noticed, to wanting to be less so God can be more...In this world, you could almost say that is 'extraordinary'.
I find there is no ordinary walk with God, and viewing all the wonderfully talented blog writers, who love the Lord so much, I can see all the extraordinary people, His workmanship!
To God be the glory!