"Wrecked for the Ordinary"

The questions have been asked, "When were you wrecked for the ordinary?" and "How are you now?" Wow...I love that phrase. I have never really thought about it before in those terms, but I do know that my wreck took place last year...March 2007. My husband and I took a trip overseas together with some high school students. I didn't really have any expectations, I just expected everything to be the same as here in the USA. After all, we were going to be in very modern, civilized cities. I was shocked, however, at how much things are not the same. I was ashamed at how much comfort I am accustomed to and how much I just expect to have it that way. I'm not there yet, but my eyes were opened to how much I take for granted that others in this world will never experience. When we arrived back in the states, my husband and I finished a conversation that has been going on half-heartedly for years and we filed our application for international adoption in May. Through His Word, this adoption process, and our involvement with Compassion International, God has begun to open my eyes to the fact that I have spent my entire life clinging to the ordinary here on earth as if it is a treasure...and it does not satisfy. Matthew 6:21 says, "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." I struggle with being comfortable in this world, wanting more, and seeking success in the world's eyes...but, I can truly say I want my heart to be where God's heart is. In I Corinthians 4:2 it says, "Those who have been given a trust must prove faithful." I know that the Lord has given all His children a trust...to be faithful and obedient to His Word in caring for the stranger, the widow, the orphan, the fatherless, the poor. I love what I read this week in a devotional... In the end, human judgement of our life's endeavors has no value; only God's opinion matters(vv. 3-4). Paul didn't worry about human verdicts on his leadership skills or ministry success, and he didn't make his own opinion primary either. His conscience was clean--but conscience is fallible. Only God is wise and perfect, so only His evaluation matters. I would definitely say a life lived with this in mind would surely be a life "wrecked for the ordinary!"