Olivia and I are on spring break this week.

We didn't plan a big vacation, although I'd love to be visiting Erich and Mallory or Evan right now! (I'm saving those visits for summer this year!)

We decided to stay home and rest and get some things done around the house.

So, it's just an ordinary week with a couple doctor's appointments and lots of laundry and other ordinary routines.

But this morning as I was reading, I was struck by two different stories in two different parts of the Bible that talked about the same idea......

God using ordinary situations and ordinary people to do extraordinary things!

First, I read about David's encounter with Goliath.

I underlined the part of the story where David's father sends him to his brothers with roasted grain and loaves of bread.  I realized that David's journey to meet Goliath started with simple obedience to a request from his father.  Isn't it neat to think that God gave the Israelites a victory through the hands of a young boy who was simply being a a helper to his family?  What if we viewed all of our daily routines (ironing shirts for our sons or husbands, moving clothes from the washer to the dryer, washing dishes, and on an on) as ordinary acts of love and kindness that could lead to great things in the Kingdom of God.  As I iron Todd's shirts, I want to pray that God will transform Him into exactly the person God longs to use to do great things in Japan this summer.  As I fold Olivia's clothes, I want to pray that she will blossom into a woman who radiates the love of God so powerfully that many young girls are drawn to Him through her love and kindness.  I want to pray for Tim as I do dishes...that God will use him to impact college students in ways that go beyond the curriculum of accounting and finance and go all the way to their heart, changing them into the men and women God needs in the business world today.  I also want to pray for Erich and Mallory in Texas and Evan in California......that God will protect them and lead them in His ways as they go about their daily routines.

After reading about David, I turned to my Experiencing God workbook which focused on Moses today.

Moses.  An ordinary man who felt unqualified for the job God called him to do.

Moses.  A man whose speech problem caused him to feel weak and unusable.

Moses.  A man who doubted whether the Israelites would see him as a leader.

Do you ever feel unqualified?

Do you ever doubt whether God can use you?

I sure do!

But today, as I venture into the second "ordinary day" of spring break,

I feel excited because I know that God specializes in using ordinary days, ordinary obedience, and ordinary people to do extraordinary things when we are willing!

I'm willing today.

Are you!?!?

I hope so!!

God longs to be the "extra" in your ordinary!