I love ordinary days.

Days filled with the calm rhythm of routine and predictability.

Days that hum with a familiar sound and a regular beat.

Because it’s on simple, ordinary days

that every once in a while

the extraordinary happens.

Years ago it was on an ordinary day

that my girls and I drove up to the Blue Ridge Mountains.

October smells filled with air and we walked the winding trails

enjoying the crunch of the leaves under our feet

watching for bear

or deer

or anything else that moved.

Laughing together time.

A pleasant break from our life down in the valley.

But

suddenly as we reluctantly prepared to leave

I decided to check if perhaps

there might be one room still available for the night.

Yes, I was told. Just one.

So with giggles and grins we rode over to the cabin

What we saw when we opened the door

was completely unexpected.

A lovely furnished room

with a porch where we could sit and rock in big wooden rocking chairs

with a spectacular view of the valley below.

It was an experience that was covered with God’s fingerprints.

I’ll never forget that evening as we sat together

watching the sun set.

The sky growing more colorful by the seconds.

The lights down in the valley slowly growing visible.

Twinkling little lights scattered all over

I strained to see the very last bit of the sun before it hid itself beneath the horizon

longing to hold on to the moment.

When it gets the darkest

you can see the lights.

All around us we see the darkness.

Continued problems, disease, death, destruction, disasters.

Sometimes it is easy to only notice that.

But keep looking,

let your eyes adjust to the changing light

and you will notice little lights glowing here and there.

Lights that remind us that we are never alone.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works,

 and glorify your Father Which is in heaven. Matthew 5:16

An ordinary day

led to an extraordinary experience that encourages me today.

Let’s not be overwhelmed by the darkness

but uplifted by the lights.

May our hearts not become discouraged by the darkness

but filled with hope as we watch the lights.