I’m a bit spoiled when it comes to web design. You see, I work for a woman who has amazing talent when it comes to design. Whether online or in print, she – and her daughters – can turn the most simple of publications into something extraordinary. It’s not hard for them, either. It just comes naturally.
So, yesterday as I sat down to try to spruce up my own blog a bit, I felt more than a little plain. Like my blog was a wasteland up against the beauty I’m accustomed to. I had no idea where to start to make my blog attractive or to add neat features. I could only take standard themes and try to spruce them up a bit. Even then, I was never sure if I was doing it right.
Now, let’s stop and consider this for a minute.
I work for a publishing company. It is our business to make things attractive. Design is part of the branding my boss has worked long and hard to establish. And, do you know what I do for the company? I work with words. Not design. Words. Sometimes even the gibberish words of html. But, always words, letters, characters, text. That’s who I am. That’s what I do.
This blog reflects me, not the company I work for. This blog is about words.
Turn that thought around a bit and consider how many times thoughts like these impact our marriages. We step out into the world and interact with a wide variety of talents, strengths, personalities, and lifestyles. We immerse ourselves in them. We connect with them. We see the wow factor of other people. Then we come home and see…plain.
Our normal becomes less than enough because we think it does not measure up to the normal we perceive in others. Our family is not __________ enough. Our home lacks __________. Our marriage is not ___________.
Oh, my dear friend, you are not meant to be them! Your marriage was not made to be theirs. Your home was not intended to be like that. You, dear friend, have something very unique and very special. You have a beauty all your own – one that no one else can replicate or enjoy.
As you look at your marriage this week, make a determination to see the beauty of who you are as a couple. Not who you are compared to your neighbors or that “perfect” couple at church. Who you are in the sight of God. Who you are compared to who you were meant to be.
May God be the standard by which you view who He made you to be. And in that, my friend, you will see a beauty that is all your own.
Not Quite Ordinary 