Just the Ordinary

For the past ump-teen years, out here in Beulah, ND, the clocks have been set to Mountain Time. It's kind of a strange deal too, when you consider that there are many towns west of Beulah that are in Central Time, such as Williston. There had been talk for years about switching the county to Central Time, but there were always those buggers who fought long and hard against it. Claims such as:

"Our crops can't take that much sunlight!"

"My chickens will NOT know how to lay eggs on Central Time!"

"Those cows won't milk on Central Time!"

were in abundance, despite their ridiculous nature.

This year, the battle ensued again. And though the old arguments arose yet again,they did not prevail. Earlier this fall, it was announced that Mercer County would switch to Central Time at Daylight Savings Time. So, instead of setting our clocks back an hour and regaining that wonderful hour of sleep, we kept them the same.

And that was it. All of a sudden, an entire county was in a different time zone. No fireworks proclaiming the switch, no barren chickens or empty cows . . . the entire battle doesn't even seem like it took place. Switching time zones hasn't altered anything at all.

Is it weird that this disappointed me? I figured something cool should happen . . . after all, how often do counties change time zones? As I pondered the ordinary-ness of our first few days living on Central Time, I was reminded of something spoken by Pastor Haugen in Luke class my senior year of AFLBS . . .

"God's way of doing this is different than man's way of doing things. If something is not big and splashy, dynamic and awesome, we have the idea that it's not very good. God's way is different - He has a very strong tendency to take that which is insignificant and despised in the eyes of men to accomplish His purpose."

Pastor Haugen spoke this in reference to the prophecy and birth of Jesus Christ. There were no fireworks celebrating the birth of the Savior; there was no royal procession bringing Him honorary gifts; Christ's birth . . . it was simple. In fact, the birth of Jesus is simply summed up in a few short verses:

"While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger." - Luke 2:6b-7

Thousands of years of waiting for the Messiah to come . . . and that is how He came. Humbly, simply . . . not as we would have imagined.

Praise the Lord that in EVERY situation -

"'My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' declares the LORD. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts'". - Isaiah 55:8-9