How You Unknowingly Made a Huge Impact Today

(Inside: How can you make an impact? How do I make impact? Read why an ordinary life is more important than you think and your everyday life is impactful.)

Work wasn’t as productive as I wished, dinner was pizza (again), and I got an email from my son’s teacher saying that he needed to retake his math test because of the low score. (Note: My son is a math teacher’s kid. We’re slaying parenting.)  As I thought about my day, I ignored the baskets of clean laundry calling out to be folded and instead opened Instagram. A post from a popular blogger praising her tribe for raising one-bazillion dollars for a hurricane relief effort popped up.

Now that’s a woman making an impact, I couldn’t help but think as I glance defeated at the ignored tangle of clean clothes and clock reminding me it’s past my bedtime.  

Do I do anything impactful in my ordinary life? (I mean, I can’t even get a handle on the laundry.)

Do you ever wonder that too?

An unlikely place in scripture spoke strength into my heart about the power of ordinary. 

Tucked around the stories of the BIG PLAYERS and their impressive journeys we love to repeat (Moses freeing slaves, David and his heart for God…) are lists. Lists of names. Descendants. Aunts and uncles and cousins. Parents and sons and daughters. Families. Lineage. Heritage.

I stopped dead in my reading and pondered these people I usually ignore. Who were these people mentioned briefly only by name? What were their jobs? Or hobbies? How many hours did they spend washing clothes, cooking meals, or chasing little ones?

Take Moses – a man who found the courage to follow God, oppose a powerful leader, and walk a nation of slaves through a parted sea to freedom. Gargantuan stuff. But I wondered about his lineage. How many people with a lifetime of ordinary played a part in his big story? Did courage run in his family? We know his mom had the strength to put baby Moses in a basket and floated him down the Nile River to save his life. His sister followed the basket and when Moses was found and adopted by the Pharaoh’s daughter, boldly offered to find a nursemaid. (His own mom.) Did those stories build courage in Moses? Were Moses’ mom and sister brave because of their lineage? Did Moses have a great-great-grandma who prayed incessantly for a strong family? Was his great-grandpa a good man who worked hard, loved his family, and sheltered his home with stability? Was his grandma a kind, loving mother? Did her kids feel the strength to be bold because they always knew they could come home to her quiet force, encouragement and comfort food? Did a lineage of everyday strength and consistency lead to a mom bold enough to hide her son, a sister strong enough to speak up, and a man who freed a nation?

Perhaps a secret to seeing God move is to look past the glory moments to the lineage of ordinary people. Generations passing down traits, learning from each other, cultivating positivity and transforming through the hard stuff. In this rhythm of genealogy, the every day feels vital. And intentional. Like God placed each person in their line with great care. He wants certain characteristics and qualities passed from one generation to the next.

The lists make me feel God’s words: “I am.” (Exodus 3:14)

I am the creator.

I am the orchestrator of life.

I am purposeful.

I am all-knowing.

I specifically placed you right here, right now with your unique characteristics, gifts, and talents. It was purposeful, so go. Spread my love. Be my image bearer here on earth. Do ordinary well. Walk today knowing who you are and what you are called to do.

Be faithful in the little things, because…

…you never know what big things I might do in your life…

…or the daily impact I am making through you…

…on the people around you…

…and on the generations who will follow.

Because, I am here every day – moving and working in the incredibly significant ordinary.

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