by Martha June

“Everyday People” was a single released by Sly and the Family Stone back in the 1960’s. It was widely popular and was one of their first songs to hit number one on two different music charts. I, however, was not familiar with the song until “Wow Hits” came out with their collection of top songs by Christian artists back in 2005. Nicole C. Mullen killed that song.

The song’s lyrics highlight who the “Everyday People” are and their differences. The singers also identifies themselves as members of the group.

As riveting as this information must be for you, I promise I have a purpose behind sharing it.

I have a very vivid memory of listening to this song as a kid. My mom was driving my sister and I past our church one day, and she was playing this song while we were singing along. That random moment has stuck with me for 15 years.

And recently, that memory reminded me of all of the “Everyday People” I have come to know and love throughout my life. All of them have taught me life lessons, and more importantly, spiritual lessons that I have never forgotten.

For years I dreamed grandiose dreams of what I believed God was going to do with my life. But I at times failed to see what He is doing with my life in the everyday. These ideas and dreams still may happen, but in the dreaming and the waiting God has taught me many lessons. One being that he uses all sorts of people who live their “ordinary” lives for his purpose and glory. They aren’t superstars as people see them, but they possess willing hearts surrendered to his purposes.

Riding in the car all those years ago, I would not have guessed that my guitar teacher Ron would show me what a heart of worship looked like. Or that my church friend Janet would model true friendship to me. I never imagined myself bonded to women who were “not my age” nor could I have pictured how much fun knowing these women would be.

All these people and more are the “Everyday People” of my life. I aspire to be like them someday. They have done the hard work of sanctifying their lives for God, and they have blessed my heart and inspired me by doing so. They have challenged me to step higher, and pursue a surrendered life to God no matter what I end up doing.

These are the people I will be writing about during the next couple of weeks. And I cannot wait to tell you about each of them. I hope their lives inspire you as much as they have inspired and challenged me.

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” Romans 1-2 (The Message)

Sincerely,

I want to be just like them.