Extraordinary arrangement

I made it back to Korea. It's good to be back to my apartment, my dog, this little corner of the earth that I currently call home. I didn't exactly miss it, but I have a feeling it will still be pretty hard to leave when our assignment ends a year from now.

Husband is still on temporary duty to Alaska. He has been making the most of his weekends when he has them by spending a lot of time in Denali National Park. He has hiked a few times. He's also seen sled dogs and moose.

This weekend he had something I'm pretty sure he will consider among the amazing experiences of his life. He and some buddies bought tickets aboard a small ski plane (not sure if that is the right term). They flew around Denali on Saturday and landed on a glacier. They got to walk around the glacier, and even saw an avalanche! I cannot even imagine seeing an avalanche -wow! He took over 300 pictures and videos! I will share more photos when he gets back.

I'm trying to get back in the swing of things here. I have been thinking about my priorities and the scripture: "He who loses his life will gain it."

I've been thinking about how to do this. I've been praying about how to do this, and the answer is the same as always:
"Live for others.
Live for relationship.
Live for love, real Love."

And how to really love? This sounds extraordinary, and I feel so ordinary. How, God?
"The ordinary is okay.
I made the ordinary just as much as the extraordinary.
The extraordinary life is made up of ordinary pieces put into an extraordinary arrangement."

I think about the things that amaze me: mountains, beaches, people. A mountain is just a heap of dirt and rocks, but God has put them together so beautifully. A beach is just sand, water, and sun, but orchestrated so perfectly. People are made of many of the same substances, yet combine to form incredible creatures.

The brilliance of God's design is making the ordinary extraordinary, using weakness to show his strength.

I don't need to craft a life of glory. I need only to give glory to The One who crafted life.