things I'm used to, things I'm not...

I'm often struck by the things that are true about my life that aren't true about many middle-class American lives, and vice versa. My life is not particularly out-of-the-ordinary but is certainly not ordinary, if that makes any sense at all. For example...

I'm used to living in weather that allows me to wear flip-flops all year long, and lets me rejoice when November comes because I can finally have my car windows down in the afternoon...

I'm used to walking into people's homes more than 20 times each week with a guitar and a keyboard and a bunch of random instruments and making music with one of their children

I'm used to communicating with people who can't talk.

I'm used to living with a bunch of girls and generally loving it

I'm not used to commuting to and from work 1 time each day

I'm not used to dressing up for work, working in an office, or doing things that I don't care about for a living

I'm used to being a part of a community of people who genuinely love God and each other

I'm used to having super-long lunch breaks but very long days

I'm used to listening to sermons and singing songs twice a month in a language that is not my own

I'm used to doing many things that the world might call foolish, for the sake of Christ

The last one is kind of cheating, cause it encompasses so much...but the list could go on and on. I'm so thankful for my ordinary and yet extraordinary life that God has graciously provided - oops, was thankfulness supposed to wait for a Thanksgiving post?