Embrace the Ordinary, 2018 vol. 2

“…there is something holy, something divine hidden in the most ordinary situations, and it is up to each one of you to discover it.”  St. Josemaria Escriva, Passionately Loving the World

Sometimes I go out of my way to fill my days with the extraordinary ordinary moments and places. Sometimes my husband and I both go out of our way to get in touch once again with situations where the divine is hidden, because life can be so full of busy-ness and stress that we forget to look for the divine, and we forget to make it a priority to embrace these opportunities.

Then life suddenly feels harder and overwhelming and some parts of it become uglier than they should. It’s because we let go of what matters and what grounds us in the holy. It’s because we’ve lost sight of the discovery.

This week, even in the midst of homeschool lessons and appointments, we pulled back from busy-ness and set out to discover the beauty again. We let go of stress as much as possible. We explored familiar places of beauty and rest. We went of our way to pursue some extraordinary moments together, so that once again the more ordinary moments will not overwhelm.

Yesterday, on our way to one of our favorite local afternoon getaways (the beach!), we talked about how incredible it is for us to live so close to a place that many people visit on vacation. Yet here we are, within a 25 minute drive, and we can enjoy this place and the soul-soothing of the beach as often as we want.

It’s such a gift to realize this! We’ve walked this beach at least a dozen times since we moved here, but it’s pure beauty. Even with two of the kids with us, and with seagulls stealing our snacks, and the boys rolled in the sand right before we left, the time we spent was a true gift. Even when we could have spent our time on errands and chores, we escaped to the beach and our favorite brewhouse for a restoring lunch.

And I found the peace, the divine, in these moments again. I think we both did.