Suddenly, I have a grandson who is almost as tall as I am. It happened this winter. After a couple of weeks of quick hellos and brief connections, I finally got a whole day with him and his siblings, and there he was, standing there with his brown eyes looking straight into mine.
His growth spurt happened when I wasn’t looking.
It happens in our hearts as well. During an especially intense season of parenting with lots of sickness, heavy financial pressure, an era of too much to do and not enough of anything, I remember talking to the Lord about something and realizing that I knew he was listening—a knowing that lightened the load. This was new for me at the time, and it grew out of the ordinary soil of life here on the ground. Growth actually happened at a time when I wasn’t looking for it.
The sober truth is that we spend most of our lives in unremarkable tasks and ordinary routines. This was even true of Jesus during the first thirty years of his embodied life. If we’re going to experience growth at all, it’s likely to be in the context of the “Ordinary.” That’s why it’s interesting to me that the church calendar designates two different sections of Ordinary Time: the first between Epiphany and Ash Wednesday, and the second between Pentecost and Advent. In other words, most of the calendar year!
We love to celebrate the high points of the liturgical year, but it’s in the mundane passing of weeks and months that habits are formed. We finish a thick book or read through the Minor Prophets by turning a page or two every day. The laundry will eventually find its way up the stairs and into the bureaus—and that sock under the coffee table, too. We plant a few unimpressive seeds in May and reap an unlikely harvest in September.
Sometimes the greatest transformation comes when you’re not looking.
We spend most of our lives in unremarkable tasks and ordinary routines. This was true of Jesus during the first 30 years of his embodied life. If we experience growth at all, it’s likely to be in the context of the “Ordinary.”
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Amy Peeler writes about this with wisdom and clarity. In Ordinary Time: The Season of Growth, she reports, “I have now been trained to see the blessed opportunities for growth in the gift of every normal day. I have learned that this season is not without the excitement of change, but that it is of a different kind, a slow but enduring kind of transformation. That kind of transformation is deeply, if not dramatically, exciting.”
Easter, Pentecost, Advent, and Christmas all have their unique focus, and they carry us forward like beckoning signposts. Then, during Ordinary Time, we are free to lean into the mundane rhythms of growth, to thank God for the promise, mercy, forgiveness, and welcome of the gospel.
In seven chapters, this little book introduces the key motifs of the season and explores several of the biblical readings from this time of the church year. I was especially encouraged by Peeler’s retelling of Abraham’s story in context with the entirety of Scripture. When God tested him, he knew that Abraham’s faith was “not blind; it was based on many miraculous interventions in his life before this moment.” My small response, then, becomes a daily faithfulness, a pressing in to this season of growth, knowing that even in the face of death, God will show up with power and provision.
I was eager to review this book because of the topic, but even more so because, last year, I reviewed Amy Peeler’s commentary on the book of Hebrews and found it absolutely lovely. Curious? CLICK HERE to read that review.
Holding You in the Light,
During Ordinary Time, we are free to lean into the mundane rhythms of growth, to thank God for the promise, mercy, forgiveness, and welcome of the gospel. #ordinarytime @ivpress
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A New YouVersion Plan for Lent and Easter!
As you know, I’m committed to the truth that women can become confident followers of God and students of his Word, and it’s my goal to help you along that path. At Living Our Days, I provide biblical content and resources to encourage biblical literacy and faithful living, and now I’m sharing devotional content on the YouVersion app. Visit my profile page to get free access to all the reading plans!
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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Associate, which means that whenever you purchase a book I’ve shared here through the link I provide, I’ll receive a very small commission. It doesn’t cost you more, and I only share books here that I can wholeheartedly recommend.
Many thanks to InterVarsity Press for providing a copy of this book to facilitate my review, which is, of course, offered freely and with honesty.
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