Shine.

"Dreams are great, and planning is a lot of fun; but God has called us to shine in the mundane."

Our pastor said this during his sermon yesterday, and it grabbed hold of me. Hasn't let go since...shine. in the mundane. not "make it through"; not "excel' ; not "get everything done and be considered the perfect wife/mother/employee/whatever because you made it through your check list". Shine.
What does that MEAN??
That's why it caught my attention.
I love to dream; my husband and I have some big ones, including a certain large, single-story-with-a-loft-and-a-guesthouse-and-trees-and-a-garden-and-a-saline-pool-house-that-would-also-be-a-place-where-pastors-could-rest-and-be-ministered-to (sorry for the Christianese..)..*ahem*. Sorry. Dreaming again.
But shining in the mundane? A little harder. And, I would argue, more important. Because I have a sneaking suspicion that, although the big trips and events of our lives DO shape us to some degree; it's in the little, everyday, mundane things that our character is built. The big things, I think, tend to be more tests of our character. But if you haven't taken the time to BUILD your character; when the big stuff comes-good or bad-you tend to break under pressure. or at the least get super stressed out and forget to enjoy it after all the planning.

I have a little thought buzzing around in my head that shining in the mundane has a lot to with perspective, priorities, and attitude. All of which are up to us, really.

I'm NOT talking about being "happy" (at least on the outside) all the time. I'm NOT talking about pretending everything is ok when it isn't. Neither am I talking about being a "oh, woe is me....I'm being "real", kind of attitude.
It has more to do with your heart.
About where true, unending joy comes from.
About learning what your priorities are
and how to set healthy boundaries.
About understanding that you can only truly excel at maybe 5 things at a time; so you HAVE to say no to some things (or at least, "not right now,") in order to be the best you can be.
For me, those 5 things right now are
1) God. Always...cause if He's not, the rest gets messed up...and I can't do any of the other things very well on my own, anyways.
2) Being the best wife I can be (yes, I do believe that my husband comes before my kids; although sometimes the obvious things like feedings and potty breaks will come first!)
3) Being the best mom I can be (this, I'm learning, depends very much on the first two, with a heaping dose of a good sense of humor and flexibility needed!)
4) Photography (something I love, that I want so badly to develop (ha!) more and get much, much better at)
5) Worship (another passion-not just singing, but becoming better musically, learning a new instrument, and stepping into opportunities as they come...always room to improve)
Here's a secret I'm learning. These things will change during my lifetime (well, the last 2. The others not so much).
Soooo...that's what I'm working on this week. My Priorities. My Perspective. My Attitude. I control all these things...and perhaps, once I have (with God's help, of course...really, I'm pretty useless without it. Especially the attitude part.) gotten these things lined up, I can truly shine in the mundane.
And that would make my life (and hopefully, at least my husband's & my kids', if no one else's..)just a leeetle...well...SHINIER. What about you? What 5 things do YOU want to excel at? And-goodnight!!-HOW do you shine in the mundane?