Monster-sized salads, mouthwatering sandwiches, and portions as big as the employees’ spirits. In other words, not your ordinary restaurant. Those are the words that describe an Indiana eatery appropriately named, Out of the Ordinary Restaurant. (I can almost see some of you Googling it right now. By the way, it should be on or near the first page. Hey, I would probably go there at least once if for nothing other than its name!)

But, upon second thought, I have to ask myself, aren’t there other restaurants providing huge salads and delectable sandwiches served by employees that exude wonderful spirits? In fact, some of you might be thinking of those very restaurants right now…which brings me to my point: Even when advertised as something beyond belief, things have a way of moving toward that which is ordinary. It still does not mean I wouldn’t give that restaurant at least one try. You gotta love a catchy name!

Life seems to have a way of trending toward the ordinary. Even the church year is dominated by ordinary seasons. You can learn more about the meaning of “ordinary” in the church year here. And yes, God works in our ordinary times of life, whatever our ordinary may look like. God meets us right where we live, where we work, where we go to school. God calls us to do extraordinary things, but that calling begins where we are – our ordinary lives. Making ourselves available for God to work in that which is ordinary does not require some beyond belief exercise or declaration. It only calls us to be willing – willing to listen in all of our ordinariness.

Beginning the first Sunday in July, we will begin a journey through the book of Nehemiah. This series is entitled, Out of the Ordinary. It is about how God works in the seasons of our lives that, to us, seem pretty ordinary.