I got some feedback on yesterday's blog - both up and down - so I, glutton for punishment that I am, decided to blog on the same topic a second time.
Being average.
Here's what I mean(t).
I'm at a Dairy Queen the other day getting some sweets for my 'sweet' and as I'm standing there (waiting forever - is there such a thing as a 'fast ice cream joint?'), I notice a woman and little girl - mother-daughter-combo - sitting at a table enjoying their dessert. The little girl has a train of vanilla sludge coasting slowly down her forearm - completely oblivious and completely happy.
They were laughing and poking and having what looked to be an all-around-great-time.
But I'm thinking to myself (please don't call me a sadist): What would happen if I walked up to that little girl's Mom and said, 'Isn't she the sweetest thing? Maybe someday she'll grow up to be a convenience store clerk? Maybe someday she'll have a hard time making ends meet?'
Pretty sure Mom wouldn't appreciate that one bit.
But if I walked up to her and said: 'I just had to say that you have a very pretty, adorable little girl. Congratulations' -- that I'd get a smile in return. I mean, maybe she'd reach out and pull her daughter in a little closer, but if I did it right, I think she'd be pleased ... if I didn't keep standing there staring.
Parents are fine being told their child is somehow special, but nobody wants to be told their child is average. That's an insult.
I didn't realize until later in life that we all end up average - and that God isn't looking for superstars. He has an easier time using 'average.'
A little boy with five loaves and two fish.
A young man with a sling and five smooth stones.
An older guy with a stuttering problem.
A teen girl with a pure heart.
Fishermen. Tax collectors. Prostitutes.
Average.
Because, as one person said, 'the day average became not good enough was the day most of us started to dislike ourselves -- and after that day, we started disliking most everybody else.'
But listen ... here's what God does with 'average.'
He feeds 5,000.
He slays a giant.
He delivers a nation.
He blesses the mother of a Savior.
He spreads the Gospel to the four corners of the globe.
... and 'average' doesn't look so bad any longer.
And be blessed.
Being average.
Here's what I mean(t).
I'm at a Dairy Queen the other day getting some sweets for my 'sweet' and as I'm standing there (waiting forever - is there such a thing as a 'fast ice cream joint?'), I notice a woman and little girl - mother-daughter-combo - sitting at a table enjoying their dessert. The little girl has a train of vanilla sludge coasting slowly down her forearm - completely oblivious and completely happy.
They were laughing and poking and having what looked to be an all-around-great-time.
But I'm thinking to myself (please don't call me a sadist): What would happen if I walked up to that little girl's Mom and said, 'Isn't she the sweetest thing? Maybe someday she'll grow up to be a convenience store clerk? Maybe someday she'll have a hard time making ends meet?'
Pretty sure Mom wouldn't appreciate that one bit.
But if I walked up to her and said: 'I just had to say that you have a very pretty, adorable little girl. Congratulations' -- that I'd get a smile in return. I mean, maybe she'd reach out and pull her daughter in a little closer, but if I did it right, I think she'd be pleased ... if I didn't keep standing there staring.
Parents are fine being told their child is somehow special, but nobody wants to be told their child is average. That's an insult.
I didn't realize until later in life that we all end up average - and that God isn't looking for superstars. He has an easier time using 'average.'
A little boy with five loaves and two fish.
A young man with a sling and five smooth stones.
An older guy with a stuttering problem.
A teen girl with a pure heart.
Fishermen. Tax collectors. Prostitutes.
Average.
'Average doesn't look so bad any longer.'
Because, as one person said, 'the day average became not good enough was the day most of us started to dislike ourselves -- and after that day, we started disliking most everybody else.'
But listen ... here's what God does with 'average.'
He feeds 5,000.
He slays a giant.
He delivers a nation.
He blesses the mother of a Savior.
He spreads the Gospel to the four corners of the globe.
... and 'average' doesn't look so bad any longer.
And be blessed.
1 comment:
I would rather be average and live my life the way God wants me to and to have a good value system than to be Donald Trump with all of his millions. Then, there are Bill and Melinda Gates...they are one of the richest couples in the world. But they use a vast amount of money to help change the world for the better.
One person I have always held such esteem for is Mother Theresa. She was an average person with a heart big enough to love the world. Money was not her desire, loving and God were.
I think to make a difference in any area of life...spreading the Gospel or making this world a better place relies on us being engaged. To step out and support the things that make life meaningful and rich.
You can be average...just don't be complacent.
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