Just another day?

In the past few weeks, I have been struck by the fact that what may be "just another day" in my family's life can be a life-changing day for someone else.  It seems strange to me that I can be going about my business on any given day, caught up in the hecticness and routine-ness of it and I can find out that, for someone else, that same day turns their world upside down.

For instance, last Tuesday I lost my Aunt Margaret to lung cancer.  (Side note: This is my mother's oldest sister, and mom to five of my cousins.  I grew up only a few miles from her and her family, and most of my memories of my childhood center around interactions with them.  Still, one of my cousins comes to visit us every year for Thanksgiving and we email or text frequently.)  But, I digress.  I knew she was very sick and under hospice care, but it all seemed so unreal, as she was across the country and the last time I had seen her she was so vibrantly healthy.  That day I was going about my normal routine and had stopped at a park to read with my kiddos in the bright sunshine before a dr's appt. My phone buzzed that I had a text, so between chapters I glanced at it to make sure it wasn't about our appointment.  It was from my mom, telling me that Margaret was gone.   I was stunned.  How could a completely normal day in my life be so momentous in the lives of others?

A few days later, a sweet friend gave birth to her 5th child after a rough 3rd trimester.  I got a text about that as well, and it seemed so odd that, on a day that I had slept in because I felt icky, someone I knew well had their world turned upside down by such a momentous occasion!  I know this is nothing new to anyone, but for some reason this week it has really made me think.

Then, last night we were ending services and one of our elders got up to tearfully announce that a man who had left the church YEARS ago was returning repentantly and once again placing himself under the oversight of our elders as a faithful member of the Lord's church.   So many prayers have been offered on his behalf over the years, and so many tears have flowed from his wife's and childrens' eyes over his lost condition.  Last night they flowed with joy from his church family and blood family alike. Again, a normal (albeit hectic) day in our lives meant the world to someone else.

Backtrack 2000+ years to the days of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection.  Think how many people went about their daily lives those two days, unaware that the world itself would be turned upside down for ALL of mankind by one man's daily choice and example.  People ate, drank, slept, loved, laughed, and cried those days, just as they always had, and yet things would never be the same!

Or, what about the day of Pentecost, when Jesus' kingdom became reality and the apostles taught the multitude the answer to the most important question ever posed:  "What must I do to be saved?"  (If you aren't sure the answer to this question, I would love to study with you, or I have posted Scripture about it here:  God's plan for the salvation of man  No one knew when they awoke to that "normal" day that it was anything but normal!

Move forward in time a little to the event that takes place in Acts 10, where the first Gentile obtained salvation from the Lord through his obedience to the gospel.  How many people just did their normal thing that day, not realizing that the hope of eternal life had been brought to millions that same day.

As I've rolled this around in my brain this week, I've thought a lot about how I am using my time and efforts. Am I making the most of the gift of time God gives me each day?  Am I using each day  in a way that could help turn someone's world upside down for good?  Are you?  Are we using every opportunity to teach others about Christ and to make that day anything but normal for them?  Are we living in such a way that our days don't seem "normal" to onlookers?  Do they see something different and special about our lives and actions?  Also, what if today were the last day for me?  Would I live it in a way that would promise an eternity of days with my Lord and Savior?  

Is today "just another day" for you?  Or will you let it be a life-changing, turn-the-world-upside-down kind of day?