Ordinary Time

It's over.

The excitement, joy, and overall glow of the Advent and Christmas seasons are beginning to fade.

The Church is settling into Ordinary Time.

The majestic mystery of pondering Jesus' nativity, infancy, and hidden childhood years gives way to the stories of his baptism and ministry.  He calls His apostles. He cures the sick, makes the lame walk, and drives demons away. He proclaims the Kingdom, and slowly the Man that was once a small baby, born of a Virgin, announced by the praises of angels, and worshiped by wise men, begins to reveal Himself as the Son of the Most High.

And this, the Church calls "Ordinary."

Is it ordinary in your life?

Do you witness God's revelation?

Do you watch Him perform miracles in your life?

Is there room for Him inside you?  Room so that He can heal you, make you new, and drive away your sins?

Does your life (the way you speak, act, and think) proclaim His kingdom?

Often times mine does not. The life of Jesus that we celebrate during this time is not ordinary to me. Instead, my ordinary is colored by my sin.  My life reveals a person who is hurting and confused. A person who is frustrated and tired and just plain busy. I don't have time for my friends. I have to do more work than I think I should.

I miss the Christmas Jesus, whose hidden years remind of my own childhood, when life was just better, easier (or so it really, honestly seems).

You know what though? It's the same Jesus.

We celebrate the birth of the Child so that the Man He becomes can live inside us and become our ordinary.

Let Him in.

Despite the frustrations, the hurts, and the "busy."  Despite the sins. Let Him in.

He wants you to come to Him with all of those things. He wants you to show them to Him. He wants to love you through them. He wants to reveal His Kingdom in you.

Let.

Him.

In.