Christopher H. Fabry - At the Corner of Mundane and Grace: Finding Glimpses of Glory in Ordinary Days

The H.I.M. Book

Spiritually Correct Bedtime Stories

Away with the Manger

The 77 Habits of Highly Ineffective Christians

A T THE C ORNER OF M UNDANE AND G RACE
P UBLISHED BY W ATER B ROOK P RESS
12265 Oracle Boulevard, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO 80921

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

eISBN: 978-0-307-79930-2

Copyright 1999 by Chris Fabry

Contact the author by e-mail:

Published in association with the literary agency of Alive Communications, Inc., 1465 Kelly Johnson Blvd.; Suite 320, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80920

Published in the United States by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., New York.

W ATER B ROOK and its deer colophon are registered trademarks of Random House Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data

Fabry, Chris, 1961
At the corner of mundane and grace : finding glimpses of glory in ordinary days / Chris Fabry. 1st ed.
p. cm.
1. Christian life. I. Title.
BV4501.2.F266 1999
242dc21 99-14485

v3.1

For my father,
whose hands
I can
still feel
supporting
me

FOREWORD
by Philip Gulley

W hen I was in the fifth grade, I won second prize in the Danville Optimists Bicycle Safety Rodeo. I got ten dollars and a Salisbury-steak dinner at the Westwood Inn next to Johnstons Regal Grocery. My picture appeared in the newspaper alongside Ricky White, the first-place winner, who received a new bike from Floyds Bicycle Mart. Rickys father was the president of the Optimist Club, something I found suspicious at the time (and still do).

Winning second place was the biggest honor of my lifeup until I was asked to write this foreword. What a privilege!

I have a confession to make. I kept reading At the Corner of Mundane and Grace because it made me laugh. Thats not a bad thing. There are a host of books that not only wont make you laugh, they wont teach you anything either. That is a serious defect, a book that is both boring and unhelpful. Chris Fabrys book is neither. Long after the laughter faded, the lesson stayed. I learned, just a little bit better, how to recognize Gods refreshing presence in the ordinary moments of life.

A big problem in our Christian faith is that we think God is with us only in the pew, when were spit-shined and all tucked in. Chris Fabry tells us otherwisethat God is with us when were elbow deep in dirty diapers, when our marriages are faltering, when the kids are sick and the dog is dying. I dont know about you, but I need to learn more about a God like that. I have the stained-glass God all figured out. Its the God of the everyday I seek, the God of spilt milk and spilled tears I need to know. Chris Fabry has helped me find Him.

There is a tendency these days to dismiss those truths conveyed through humor, as if people who make us laugh cant also make us think and help us grow. As if that which tickles our funny bones cant also stir our souls. I invite you right now to turn to , A Prayer for Every Day, and read it. Now see if amidst your laughter is found also the Amen, the Yes, thats true, the Lord, make me like that too.

In At the Corner of Mundane and Grace, Chris Fabry confirms and celebrates a simple gospel truththat faith in God brings light and joy to every darkened corner. In this world of dark corners, this is the best news indeed.

I hope you enjoy Chris Fabrys latest offering as much as I have.

I hope that, as you read it, the Christ who is our Joy turns your mourning into dancing.

I hope Chris Fabry keeps on writing.

I hope Ricky White enjoyed his new bicycle.

Most important, I hope the God of your Sunday morning becomes the God of your everyday.

Philip Gulley

Author of Front Porch Tales, Home Town Tales, and For Everything a Season

INTRODUCTION

Cloud Holding 101

T riumph and tragedy. The world is filled with it every day, and here you stand making lunch or trying to pick up the Sunday paper without getting a hernia. While others reach pinnacles or fall to the depths, you experience blah. Its just another humdrum day.

Or is it?

Could you be missing something important?

I believe heroic faith is forged in everyday furnaces. I believe extraordinary things happen to people who find glimpses of glory in ordinary days.

But when Im in the middle of grocery lines and traffic, diapers and laundry (not that I do laundry; I tend to watch it pile up), God seems distant and unaware. Am I missing him amid my daily duties? Is there some cosmic lesson Im overlooking? Should I go with the Rice Krispies treats or the Fruit Roll-Ups for the soccer teams snack today?

If youve been yearning for more of God, this book is for you. If you look closely, you might find hes already given more than youre ready to take.

Weve forgotten we serve the God of the humdrum, the Deity who takes a mediocre existence and transforms it into a chorus of praise. The subtle message sent by many books and seminars is that he is only the God of the big splash, the dramatic testimony, the miraculous healing. He is the God who fixes us in one weekend. Dont get me wrong. God does miracles. But hes also King of the Common. Sometimes he chooses not to fix the brokenness of our lives for a reason, and its in the long haul, these fallow times, that we grow or stagnate.

I want to growdont you? Then step into the everyday furnace with me.

My God was a carpenters son with calluses to prove it. He swept sawdust from the floor at the end of the day. His feet were dirty most of his life. He wiped the sweat from his brow in his Nazareth existence, and for thirty years he waited. He obeyed. He was faithful in the mundane.

We dont hear much about this part of Jesus life. There arent many verses dedicated to it, so we concentrate on the big events: the incarnation, the healings, his crucifixion and resurrection. But Jesus was not just biding time on his journey through the ordinary. God had an eternal purpose for the dust and troubles that prepared Jesus for the path of suffering ahead. I believe he has a purpose for the dust you and I encounter today.

youll see how God can take the dismal forecast youre experiencing today and turn it into a divine appointment. It will help you choose the path that leads to joy and true fulfillment.