I found this image on Pinterest the other day and had to pin it to my board called “Spirit” – which I use to pin anything that moves my spirit. Then, when I’ve had a bad day, I can go back to this board and read/look at some of the things there to give myself a lift.

Today hasn’t been a particularly bad day, but it has been disappointing. With the advent of cold 2.0, my folks’ and I had to cancel some plans with friends tonite. It was a gorgeous and unseasonably warm day – I would have loved to go for a long walk at the waterfront in Belleville. Instead, I spent most of the day inside, just resting and taking care of myself. That’s good in one sense, but man – I hate missing out on opportunities.

All of that to say I’m feeling a little down tonight. So I thought it would be a good idea to look at my Spirit board before bed. What I love about this image/motto is that it is true. You are a miracle. I am a miracle. Against all odds we were born into this world, against all odds we are finding our way through this world. And while that is terribly ‘ordinary’, it is also a miracle.

Whenever someone says that they don’t believe in miracles, I have to grin a little bit. Because what they really mean is not that they don’t believe in miracles. Of course they believe in all the ordinary miracles that take place around us every day – people who fall in love, children who are conceived…what are the lyrics to that Sarah McLachlan song?

The sky knows when it’s time to snow
Don’t need to teach a seed to grow
It’s just another
Ordinary miracle today
— Sarah McLachlan, Ordinary Miracle

Everybody believes in those kind of miracles, we just don’t really recognize them as miracles. Instead, when someone says they don’t believe in miracles they meant they don’t believe in the “big” miracles. Things that go beyond the ordinary. Things that are really hard to explain.

Well, there are probably great intellectual arguments you can make for that point of view. But as for me, my heart tells me that there are ordinary miracles around us every day. And if there are ordinary miracles, I don’t see the extraordinary miracles as that big of a jump.

But then…I believe in the God of the Exodus and of Easter. The God who delights in turning our expectations upside down.

Let me end with this: writing this, thinking about these things, thinking about that God, listening to that Sarah McLachlan song…these things have been good for my spirit, and despite the day’s disappointments, I’m going to bed with a heart that is glowing with warmth and looking forward to what tomorrow will bring. And that, too, is an ordinary miracle.