"While it takes courage to achieve greatness, it takes more courage to find fulfillment in being ordinary. What is the adventure in being ordinary? It is daring to love just for the pleasure of giving it away. It is venturing to give new life and to nurture it to maturity. It is working hard for the pure joy of being tired at the end of the day. It is caring and sharing and giving and loving, because we trust our ordinary lives to the hands of an extraordinary God. There are no Oscars or medals awarded for any of these pursuits. But then, no piece of gold or bronze statuette can sum up their worth." M. Thomsen . . . . The Hollyhocks have covered the fence. An ordinary flower. An ordinary thing. But there is great hope in the flowers that fight their way back (in this case, from that late May freeze.) Think of the ordinary things in our lives. A mother sings to her child to soothe him when he is ill and when he is older and ill, he remembers that song and is comforted. A father who talks to his son as they load hay bales into the truck. Long after the father is gone, the son remembers the advice he received and still heeds. The teacher who does a small favor for a child in her class. After much time, the girl, now a woman, throws away the pills with which she has planned to take her own life when she remembers that her fifth grade teacher loved her. Never underestimate the power of the ordinary.