The Sacred Ordinary: Embracing the Holy in the Everyday

by McLeroy, Leigh

• ISBN13: 9780800731434
• ISBN10: 0800731433
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-01-01
• Publisher: Fleming H Revell Co

Summary

The first day of school. A dinner party gone wrong. The chore of changing a light bulb or facing up to the junk drawer. Life is full of ordinary people, places, things, moments, and words. But underneath the ordinary we can find glimpses of an extraordinary God. In her lyrical style, Leigh McLeroy peels back the layers of regular life to offer modern-day parables that connect us in a tangible way to God. The Sacred Ordinary captures those moments where, if we linger, we will see that the earth really is full of heaven and that every common bush is afire with the beauty of God. Perfect for individual use as devotional reading or use in a small group, The Sacred Ordinary offers a deeper level of reflection on life and God than many of us have in our very ordinary lives.

Author Biography

Leigh McLeroy writes and speaks with a passion for God and has a keen eye for his presence in everyday life. She is the author of The Beautiful Ache and is a contributing writer for several books. She is also a feature writer and the creator of Wednesday Words, an e-mail devotional with a life of its own. A frequent conference and event speaker, Leigh makes her home in Houston, Texas.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. 7
Introduction	p. 9
Ordinary Places
Inside the Junk Drawer	p. 15
Never Closed, Never without a Customer	p. 14
The Waiting Place	p. 16
Seeing Jesus at Bethlehem	p. 18
Bliss in Transit	p. 20
At the Pony League Game	p. 22
Growing into My Grace Clothes	p. 24
"Doing Time" in County	p. 25
Repaired and Polished?	p. 27
Wilderness Gardens	p. 29
Grace on Broadway	p. 31
Lordship on Highway 59	p. 33
Stranded, Stuck, or Delayed?	p. 34
Beautiful Interior	p. 36
School Days	p. 38
Comfortably Incarcerated	p. 40
Conformed or Transformed?	p. 42
Fridays at Avalon	p. 44
My Beautiful Desert	p. 46
Six A.M. Saxophone	p. 47
Ant Street Expectations	p. 49
Right Track, Wrong Train	p. 51
Ordinary People
Ten Fingers and Ten Toes	p. 57
Who Is My Neighbor?	p. 59
Con Affetto, Please	p. 61
A Hero in the Wings	p. 63
The Kindness of Strangers	p. 65
The Balcony Dancer	p. 66
Spending It All	p. 68
Tsunami Baby	p. 70
Sweet Sixty-five	p. 72
Miss Laura's Mail	p. 74
A Midweek Deli Drama	p. 75
Night (and Day)	p. 77
Pomp and Circumstance	p. 79
Death Defeated!	p. 81
God's Work and Good Tables	p. 83
"Daddy's Got You!"	p. 85
Of Spiderman and Kings	p. 86
The Things That Julia Moves	p. 88
Horse Holders, Handlers, and Other Hangers-on	p. 90
Written on Her Forehead	p. 91
"My Name Is Dulcinea"	p. 93
No-Matter-What Love	p. 95
Ordinary Things
Awaiting New Wine	p. 99
"Six-Foot Frosty Seeks Same..."	p. 101
Sanctification and Bathroom Rugs	p. 102
The Problem with Paper Gowns	p. 104
My Window Malfunction	p. 106
Not a Sparrow Falls	p. 107
The Stereographic View	p. 109
Sixty-four-Crayon Life!	p. 111
The Catalog Life	p. 113
About Those Expiration Dates...	p. 115
Finding Feathers	p. 117
Finding (More) Feathers	p. 118
King of Hearts	p. 120
Bargain-Basement Deals	p. 122
Any Tree That Isn't Mine	p. 124
Missing Pieces	p. 125
The One-Eyed Tiger	p. 127
God's "iPod-ness"	p. 129
Respecting the Storm	p. 131
Considering Monovision	p. 133
No Hope-or New Hope?	p. 135
Loving the Weight of the Wood	p. 137
Ordinary Moments
Changing the Porch Light	p. 141
Caught!	p. 142
Shine	p. 144
Lost Ticket	p. 146
Extra-Inning Exhaustion	p. 148
Where's Your Treasure?	p. 150
Dinner for Two (Plus Two)	p. 151
Living with My Hands Full	p. 153
The Bread and the Wine Came to Me	p. 155
Don't Supersize Me!	p. 157
Called to Small	p. 159
The Loveliest Ruins	p. 161
Working around the Repairs	p. 162
Sounding Out the Words	p. 164
When Chester Smiled	p. 166
Wrestling the Tree	p. 168
Turbulence	p. 169
Sealed with a Kiss	p. 171
A Freakish Storm	p. 173
Watch This! Watch This!	p. 175
Just Dessert	p. 177
Passing by the Dragon	p. 179
Face Time	p. 181
Keeping Score	p. 182
Ordinary Words
Why?	p. 187
"Two Ticks. No Dog."	p. 188
"Tale as Old as Time, Song as Old as Rhyme"	p. 190
Dependence Day	p. 192
This Is My Father's World	p. 194
Love beyond Degree	p. 195
The Determined Hound of Heaven	p. 197
"I See the Moon"	p. 199
He's Just That Into You"	p. 201
From the Mouths of Rock Stars	p. 203
Of Football and Messiahs	p. 205
Only Words	p. 207
"It's about the Movie"	p. 209
"Can You Hear Me Now?"	p. 210
Embraceable Inconsistencies	p. 212
God in the Details	p. 214
God Is Love	p. 216
"The Good Kind of Cry"	p. 217
When the Answer Is "No"	p. 219
The Three That Count	p. 220
Worlds Away	p. 222
Weakness before Wonder	p. 224
Personal Retreat Guide	p. 227
Notes	p. 237
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