I’m a simple girl.
Maybe “average girl” would be a better way to describe me. Truly. I was never the super star in school, in sports, in anything. I usually found myself somewhere in the middle. Plain Amy. Brown hair, brown eyes, mediocre basketball skills, and boasting more B’s than A’s on my report card. I was a hard worker at everything, but it seemed my hard work left me average.
Ironically, as a little girl I felt that God had made me for more. As average as I was, I sensed that God had an above average call on my life. However, when I hit forty, I started to wonder if I had missed my moment; perhaps my chance at fulfilling this above average call from God had mysteriously slipped through my fingers as I trudged through my very ordinary, average life.
Disappointed with the current state of my calling, I slammed on the breaks, came to a screeching halt, and took some time to assess the road behind me and the one staring me straight in the eye. In the rear view mirror, I honestly couldn’t say I had achieved or accomplished or risen to anything noteworthy and successful. I was still somewhere in the middle- somewhat average, chasing after the above average call. An unfinished story, or perhaps this big calling had never had a chance to begin? Looking ahead I saw more of the same.
Maybe we call these soul searching moments at forty a “midlife crisis”; I don’t know. What I do know is that God began to mess with me during this season of soul searching. There was something stirring deep within me; it was like my life was chugging along a track, moving fast in one direction, and God was inviting me into a season of recalibration. And I truly needed a reset. So, after much prayer and discussion with Joel, I resigned my position at our church and planned to focus my attention on the needs of our family. I also believed that, perhaps, God was getting ready to launch me into the above average call that I had been waiting my whole life to achieve.
As a little girl, “above-average” meant BIG, fancy, noteworthy, standing out in the spotlight, noticeable, and tangibly significant. I hate to confess that, for a long time, I was expecting God to hoist me into some kind of above average success. Can you relate? Do you often feel you are standing on the the sidelines of your life, just waiting to be put in the game so you can make the winning shot? Is there this feeling of expectancy, that somehow your ordinary days were not supposed to be the pinnacle of your success? Are you expecting more from God, from your life?
As I anticipated and hoped and waited in eager expectation, God did a couple of things: 1. God gave us a very unexpected surprise in the form of an unplanned pregnancy, and 2. God hit reset, not only in my life but he completely reoriented my entire understanding of what an above average calling looks like from his perspective.
First came Jasper. How he has turned my life sideways, upside down, and right-side up is something that can only be attributed to God’s grace and wisdom. He humbles me (and sometimes humiliates me, especially when we are visiting churches and pastors), he keeps me moving, and he consistently reminds me through his simplicity and innocence, just how precious is my relationship with God.
Jasper is an absolute gift. Even on the days when I think I am going to lose my mind, he truly is God’s gift to me. God knew I needed to get my perspective back; he knew I needed to be reminded to keep my focus steady and not get distracted, and nothing keeps one focused more than wrangling a two-year-old into submission.
The gift of presence, purpose, and perspective have been the fruit of Jasper’s life intertwined into mine. God has reminded me that presence, my presence, in the lives of those most precious to me is an above average calling. I didn’t have to chase that. God gave it to me. The purpose of my days is to serve and love and pour myself out for the most important people in my world. And as I do so, I do so as unto the Lord, and that is a very significant, high calling.
I’m not chasing after an above average call anymore. I’m chasing after my husband and my kids and this crazy wonderful life of surrender which is a calling higher than anything I could ever have imagined.
Second came perspective. An above-average calling is not so much about accomplishments or achievements. It is more specifically about God pulling us out of our comfort zone, having the willingness to obey him, even when it seems both impossible and uncomfortable. Regardless of what the outcome may be, an above-average calling is any calling God places on our lives that is bigger than ourselves.
I’m chasing after God, and I am longing to live a life of obedience. And that, too, is an above average calling.
Where has God placed you?
Are you sitting in your little corner of the world wondering if God has forgotten you?
Are you in a season of in-betweens and you are feeling set aside and unnecessary?
Has God’s invitation left you a hundred million miles away from your comfort zone?
Are you struggling with the new in your life and longing for the past?
Or are you fighting hard to move ahead, but God has closed that door in favor of keeping you in this place a little longer?
Your here and now is your above average calling.
Chase after God.
Run towards surrender.
It’s not about some big thing that will bear your name for years to come. It is the little things in the little moments that will bear your legacy.
Think about that.
“There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.” Philippians 1:6
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Having just experienced a life changing car accident, where I was hit by a hui and run driver, . This message had me slamming on my brakes agaon, in many ways as I now see God’s hand was on me. Ty for this reminder. There is no doubt God had me.
Thank you, Sherrie! I am praying that you would continue to walk in peace and the assurance that God has you right where he wants you.