Ordinary People?

I was thinking recently about reading the newspaper. My mom and dad got a newspaper every day. I started reading it at a young age. At first just the comics, then I moved on to the special kid edition they had once  a week. I started reading the entire paper everyday when I was about 14. I can still see the headlines describing the more momentous events.

When a pope died unexpectedly.

When a beauty queen was killed by her jealous estranged husband.

When John Lennon was murdered.

The newspaper was an important part of my teenage life. One of my favorite parts of reading the paper were the long pieces, usually printed each week in the Sunday paper. They would often focus on everyday people, accompanied by photographs. I quite enjoyed studying those. None were very spectacular but it was so intriguing to be able to get a glimpse into the lives of strangers. Posed in their homes, or at work, or a play. They seemed so real. Ordinary yet interesting and worthwhile. I think the world we live in now is very dismissive of the ordinary life. It's not considered exciting or important enough, so we turn to celebrities or reality tv to give us a glimpse into what is supposedly a more exciting way to live. But is it really?

Today I decided to take an ordinary photo of myself in my ordinary house in the style I remember from the newspaper, with the usual clutter and dust. I bought a new skirt that I really like, so I put that on. This picture may look average and maybe even boring to the casual viewer but I see something else.

I see the ladder that my husband built with his own two hands. I see the piano that two of my children have played music on. I see pictures on the walls that we chose to put there because they moved us in some way. I see a hat my husband wore to a fabulous party he put on to celebrate my 50th birthday in exactly the way I requested. I see bits and pieces of our lives amongst the dust and clutter.

Our ordinary lives. Our beautiful ordinary lives. I see the sacred in that every single day. I am grateful for that every single day. We are alive and isn't that something exciting and worthwhile?
I think it is. I know it is.