What a joy to take a beautiful cruise with your family, enjoying the incredible ocean views, blue skies and ocean breezes! We first planned this cruise in the fall of 2019, so it was a blessing to finally go! The service on a cruise ship is amazing - cleaning your room twice a day, you just sit down and eat (or walk through the buffet!), endless clean towels, they do it all! The last full day of our cruise was a stop on Royal Caribbean's island  - they call this day PERFECT DAY at Coco Cay! It was a day full of sunshine, sand in your toes, floating in the salt of the ocean. Absolutely gorgeous! It was a perfect day in Coco Cay!

But like all vacations, pretty soon we are back in our regular routines. We are back to fixing meals, unplugging the toilet and doing laundry. While I love my life, I love pastoring and being a wife, mom and friend, life can get mundane.

Linsey Driskill describes one of her favorite spots on earth, and then poses this question on the Just Between Us website: How do we find the Lord in the mundane? How do we find joy in the ordinary?

She goes on to say, "Mother Teresa once said, Wash the plate, not because it's dirty, nor because you're told to wash it, but because you love the person who'll use it next.

This quote struck me. It transforms the way I view my daily chores. Is my mind floored by complaints and frustrations as I do ordinary tasks? Or do I put love into my actions by praying for the person who will use the next dish or wear the clothes I just folded? I am challenged to shift my perspective.

Sometimes I get so hung up on everything I am doing. Does anyone notice? And then, I read a quote like this, and my selfishness is so clear. It is an honor to have the ability and opportunity to wash dishes and take care of the people I love most. That is experiencing the kingdom of God. Do we really need to be in our favorite spots to experience His power, love and presence?"

How can we pray, how can we glorify God, how can we have a "perfect day" no matter what we are doing? Our circumstances may be mundane, challenging or even impossibly hard. Yet no matter what we are doing, God is there.

First John 1:16 says, "Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him." No matter what is going on, the Lord is with us just the same. Linsey says, "As you love those around you by folding laundry, scrubbing dishes, and searching for mismatched socks, remember that there He is with you."

Let's make up our minds that no matter what we are doing, we are serving and loving our Lord Jesus Christ in all things.

In Christ's ministry together ~  Pastor Caryn