Blessedly Ordinary

Much of our summer has been blessedly ordinary.  I think that I am becoming very grateful for the days, weeks and months that go by in a rather ordinary way.  Trips to the swimming pool, disciplining the children, cleaning and lots of laundry.  Ordinary family dinners of  basic meals like spaghetti every Monday and pizza nights, homemade or five dollar Little Ceasar pizzas. 
Trips to the pediatrician for back-to-school physicals and well baby checks. 
Spending way too much money at the grocery store (are they raising prices every. single. week.?) and at the gas pump fueling up our big red van.
Reading books and getting homeschool supplies organized for the soon approaching school year.
Traveling to visit family and going to church. 
Preparing to begin the Parent/youth caregroup with our oldest son (already!, how can he be this old already?)
Sometimes oridinary borders on monotonous, dull and boring.  Sometimes I can be tempted to grumble about the same old, same old.  Sometimes, just because it is ordinary doesn't mean it isn't hard.  Mothering is hard work.  Taking care of a household of nine takes lots of good old fashioned sweat and late nights. 
But let me not complain or grumble.  Let me give thanks to God for how ordinary my days are right now.  Let me not forget the hard year and a half of Asher being pretty sick and lots and lots of Dr. appointments and hospital trips and stays.  Let me not forget the early years of having very, very little to spend at the grocery store ( I think those years are good for every newly married couple, they help you grow up pretty quickly). Let me not forget what God has done for me, and how un-oridinary his life here on earth was. 
How blessed I am. 
One of the things that is causing me to remember to give thanks for the oridinary is watching my sister in law and brother in-law go from busy, full days with their large family, to days full of hospital trips and long, long days at cancer clinics.  Going from planning baby showers and trips to visit a new grandson, who is adorable by the way, to planning who will stay with the baby of the family during his long inpatient stays in Philadelphia.  No one can fully prepare for the drastic change from ordinary to the world of childhood cancer.   

I just wanted to ask those of you who read this blog to keep our nephew, Kevin, in your prayers.  He is nine and has been having treatments for leukemia since Mother's Day this year when they discovered this awful illness. 
He is pretty sick right now due to his immune system being completely depleted.  He has been inpatient at CHOP since Thursday, and it seems he will be there for a while yet while the doctors do what they can to fight off two pretty significant illnesses in his body and hopefully keep bringing his immunity up.  When he was admitted it was a 0, no functioning immune system.  Now it is at 30.  It needs to be at 200 for him to go home, and 10 days bacteria free. 

Would you join me in the midst of your ordinary, or not so ordinary day, to pray for Kevin? 

Also would you consider checking out my friend Susanna's blog?  She is returning right now from a trip to Bulgaria to meet her new daughter.  A nine year old who is the size of Luke, who hasn't been cared for all nine years of her life.  This blog and the pictures will likely make you cry.  Susanna is an amazing mommy of ten already.  She lives nearby and has been a HUGE blessing to me and Luke.  Would you keep the orphans in Bulgaria and all over the world in your prayers.  It is just mind blowing and eye opening to find out the way so many little ones live. 
Would you take time out of an ordinary morning to pray for Susanna and her family?  They are trying to bring Katie home sooner than normal to start treatment and care for her severe malnurishment and other health related problems.  Caring for her won't be an easy job.  But christians here on earth are never promised ease are we?