My wife and I wrote our own wedding vows in which we committed to love each other in the “everydayness of life.” In the intervening years, those words have often crossed my mind, reminding me that, as wonderful as it is to share celebratory occasions, most of life is routine and challenging. Sunny days spent in Disney World are rare and infrequent. Often life is more akin to hours at the local laundromat watching the spin cycle, hoping you have enough quarters to get through the laundry basket.
What is true for our marriage is true in our walk with Christ. It is challenging to cultivate a vital relationship with Christ throughout the ordinary days of life. Often, we expect our Christian journey to be one mountain top experience after another, or at least a succession of modest hilltops. But what if moments on the summit are rare? What if we don’t emerge from each Sunday worship service excited and emotionally fired up? What if I feel empty and defeated on my Monday morning commute to work? More than a hundred years ago, Oswald Chambers wrote in My Utmost for His Highest: “God did not build us for the mountains and the dawns and aesthetic affinities, those are for moments of inspiration, that is all. We are built for the valley, for the ordinary stuff we are in, and that is where we must prove our mettle.”
I am most grateful to the Lord for His sustaining presence in the long stretches through the valleys.
Mary and I have now been married nearly five decades and have shared countless ordinary days. She has been at my side as I have pastored four different congregations, two in rural Pennsylvania and two in the Rochester area. During most of our more than thirty years in this area, I have taught courses as an adjunct at Roberts Wesleyan University and Northeastern Seminary on leadership and pastoral care.
Looking back on my life, I treasure the memories of my moments on the mountain top, but I am most grateful to the Lord for his sustaining presence in the long stretches through the valleys. At this spring’s Spiritual Formation Conference, I look forward to being with you and considering daily rituals that will help us remain faithful on the journey with Christ. You can visit this page to find more details about our workshops and register. See you on Saturday, March 14th!
