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Ordinary Dreams of an Everyman — 48 Comments

  1. oh yes … RADICAL … a powerful word … and how does it play out for each of us in our faith walk, in our marriages, with our families, in the ministries we’re called to …

  2. I love that you are a “peculiar people.” What a boring world we would live in if we all lived like the world’s definition of the “everyman.” I love your words, “. . . .Maybe an everyman dream produces radical results in a world that is not God-normal.” Radical results are spectacular! Keep doing what you’re doing and challenging us to do the same–following in the footsteps of the greatest radical of all time, Jesus!

  3. There’s so much in this post that makes me think – makes me excited to embrace radical more than I already do. I love your transition from the radical brokenness of your childhood family to your radical choices in unity with Christ. Thank you!

  4. Oh wow…I’m so glad I found your blog!!!!! I just want to say, I love your peculiarily radical family! What a blessing this blog was! I also love that others radical is your normal…indeed we are called to this full life!

  5. I wonder how many times I’ve told God, “I don’t want to bloom here.” I want to live radically–to bloom in the most unlikely places and under the most unlikely circumstances. This is a beautiful post and the truths are packed in from every angle.

  6. Faith inside the Garden of Eden was Normal. Faith outside the Garden of Eden is Radical.
    It is, isn’t it? Why did we ever think it was going, in this broken world, to be easy?
    This is a lovely and thought-provoking post.
    Thank you.

    joannempotter.blogspot.com

  7. When things in life don’t seem to fit into what the world believes to be normal, I have to remind myself that we have been called out. We are in this world – not of this world. Because we are a royal priesthood – a chosen generation – we have been set apart to salt the earth by being reflections of HIS majesty!

  8. We’ve struggled to find our place. Is it an “ordinary” life place or a “radical” life place? Thanks for pointing out that every life of faith is an extraordinary life.

  9. I want to “bloom riotously” — yes, even right here! You really spoke to me today. (We’re neighbors over at Laura’s Wellspring today.) I’m glad I came over to see you!

  10. When my family left our home in Ok. to come here to Ky, my mother said to me…”Bloom where God plants you”. I hope I’ve done that. . .And I want to live radically for Him!
    My boys always said we had a “Weird” family…I guess that’s ok;)
    So enjoyed your post!

  11. It is counter-cultural to be a praying people. Sometimes even when you grow up in the church. You are doing such good things–radical and ordinary. That’s pretty cool.

  12. We are peculiar to many, I always though I was and still do believe I am odd to many. Praise God for those everyman dreams that reach out and hold our families together. Thank you for sharing at “Tell Me a Story.”

  13. Awesome post. God’s Son was the most radical Being ever to walk this planet, and I want to walk in His footsteps. With Him, and only with Him, are all things possible, He uses ordinary people to accomplish His extraordinary purposes. Thanks for the thought-provoking post, & God bless1

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  16. My heart jumped for joy reading through your family’s radicalness. Because radical living IS blooming where we are planted. Love, love.

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  18. Wow, my comment is just a drop in the bucket. =) Thank you for stopping by my blog MaryLeigh.

    I’m sorry that you endured your parents divorce. I am on the other end of that. I am the parent that divorced. On my 3rd marriage, but we vow that we will see our “ours baby” grow up grounded and healthy because he will have both parents to raise him just as you mentioned in your post. Why do things have to go so wrong in culture for us to finally value what our great grandparents had? My husband’s Mexican grandparents were married 67 years.

    You are a lovely writer. Blessings~

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  21. When I was growing up, my whole goal in life was to be normal. My family was marked by alcoholism. I pursued that dream for years, never quite obtaining it. I now know that no one is normal!

    But it is interesting you reposted this blog when you did. My pastor preached a sermon last night, “What is that in Your Hand?” and his point was God wants you to use what you have at hand … Your words, “Had my non-radical dreams been like a balloon weight keeping me from soaring high? Had I dreamed too small, too low? Limited God’s purpose for my life?” and the lie the enemy was telling you, “trying to live God-ordinary is not enough,” fits in so well with this idea. God wants us to use what is at hand, where He has placed us. Hope I’m making sense, but it speaks to me, anyway!

    • I love that question/message – “What is in your hand?” I have come to the conclusion after much thought – and children grown up – the last ones about to fly – that focusing on BIG Dreams – like being president or “famous” like sports figures – takes their eyes off of making the best of “what is in their hands.” I think the greatest happiness – and, potentially, the greatest impact can be had by making the best with what’s at hand. You are making perfect sense to me, Jerralea!

  22. Good Morning, Maryleigh. Normal…yes I dreamed of “normal” a number of times during my life: when Daddy died at my age of 12, when my first husband and I could not be a couple any longer…and I sought ‘normal’ in all the wrong places. Daddy did not leave for any reason other that things out of his control but as a 12 year old who absolutely adored him, I did not know the difference.

    I did not really know love until Jesus entered my life 33 years after Daddy died. I truly began a journey of living radically, whether in the day-to-day or in the wild and crazy. But this beautiful post has given me so much radical to ponder and munch upon. I love the way you write, Maryleigh for it is a testimony to our God and HIs beautiful hand upon yours.

    • There is such a beautiful message in your comment, Linda. I want to hear more of your living radically journey. Growing up, the dream for “normal” anchored me on a safe path until I could grasp God’s normal. The world’s normal is not God’s normal – is it! Thank you for your sweet encouragement Linda. I admit – I could not put two words together without God!

  23. A soul always longs to get back to the Father. This struck me so profoundly. And yes, we are called to be set apart. And often the simplest things make us stand out. Your life is a beautiful testimony to this.

    • I wish I had understood when I was younger that it is the simplest things that enrich our lives. Our culture so encourages fame and fortune the pricelessness of simplicity is too often overlooked! Thank you, friend, for your kind encouragement!

    • I like God’s kind of peculiar! So grateful for your company in this God-designed journey, Michele! You are a blessing!

  24. Your grandmother sounds like a special lady. You gave many things to ponder. I appreciate this thought, “Something that maybe doesn’t soar but blooms riotously.”

    • My grandmother taught me to be strong and to stand up for what I believed in – she definitely bloomed where she was planted throughout her life!

  25. Maryleigh, I loved this. I used to fear being radical. But as I’ve grown older, I’ve seen that just seeking to live fervently for Jesus is RADICAL. I loved reading about you, your family. And there’s something to be said for being a “peculiar family.”

  26. Maryleigh, I love this! I have been trying to be more intentional in remembering God, because he is indeed in all the moments of my day. I just wrote my own acrostic psalm using a word for each verse beginning with each of the 26 letters of the English alphabet!

  27. Maryleigh, this is a beautiful post. Lately I am realizing that in this quickly changing world, simply loving and following Jesus is radical. While the world is longing to get back to “normal”, having faith and trusting in Him is becoming something I long for more than “normal”. Thank you for ministering to my heart this morning!

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