On Saturday, my friend Alece, came to stay with me and go see the Help Haiti Live Compassion benefit. Needless to say we had a great time. The concert was incredible. And I absolutely adore spending time with Alece. She is easy to be around, smart, authentic, and just a little sassy.
But do you know what my favorite thing about her is?
Alece is Ordinary.
When you meet Alece, you meet a girl who is instantly relatable. You meet a girl who seems just like you and me. A girl who seems ordinary.
You don’t feel uncomfortable being real with Alece. You aren’t constantly worrying about if you are smart enough or Godly enough. Alece makes you feel completely at ease. It’s as if she is nothing out of the ordinary.
But then you start asking a few questions and Alece’s story comes out. And you realize that she is not, in fact, ordinary. She is actually quite the contrary.
Alece is Extra. Ordinary.
You see Alece picked up and left her comfortable life in the United States at 19 (yes, that is right 19, the age I was worrying about boys, keg parties, and the seemingly unavoidable freshman fifteen) to move to South Africa. This self-proclaimed “city girl” felt God pushing her to love on the people of Africa. Now years later she has built a successful ministry in South Africa, Thrive Africa.
Thrive Africa’s vision is to disciple Believers, equip leaders, and strengthen the Church in Southern Africa. We accomplish this through AIDS prevention, pastoral development, discipleship classes, youth camps, mission trips, and more.
In addition to what Alece has created at Thrive, Alece ministers to thousands of folks each day through her blog. She talks about her very real struggles, her very real divorce, and her very real feelings. Some days her writing brings me to tears and some days she leaves me laughing out loud.
I have no doubt that God is looking down on Alece with a huge smile. He is loving watching her put the talents and passions He gave her to work.
All this to say, spending time with Alece was an apt reminder that extraordinary people are not created differently. Extraordinary people are simply ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Extraordinary people live in their “sweet spot.” Extraordinary people use their God given gifts and passions to seek out the life God created for them.
So what are you waiting for? Don’t you know that God has created you with extraordinary in mind? Don’t you know that He keeps hoping that you will put your talents and passions to work?
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