Inspired by St. Thérèse of Lisieux: Seeking the Holy in the Ordinary

I love writing. But what I’m really hoping is that you like reading.

A few weeks ago I signed up for a blogging challenge—committing to writing and posting every day during October. Thirty-one days. Hmm.

Writing for 31 days in a row is not a challenge for me. I write every day.

Writing 31 posts in a row that you want to read? And that fit into one theme? That might be more difficult.

But I have an idea, and I hope you’ll be as excited about it as I am.

Today is the Feast of Thérèse of Lisieux. She’s an extraordinary saint because of how she lived her faith in small, ordinary ways. She is known for her Little Way, for how she found holiness everywhere, even in the simplest things.

“The splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not rob the little violet of its scent nor the daisy of its simple charm,” she said. “If every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness.”

Today, as October begins, I am inviting you to take the next few weeks and look for the little violets along the way. Together, let’s marvel at their beauty, small but significant, and yet one more sign of God’s love for us, for all of creation. Let’s see ourselves in that violet, knowing that not everyone can be a rose or a lily—but everyone can bring some beauty, some kindness, some good to the world.

Last night, as I was thinking about St. Thérèse and her Little Way, our younger son came to ask for a bowl of ice cream. Instead of serving it to him, I handed him the ice cream container and a big spoon.

For the longest time, he sat and worked, chiseling the frozen ice cream out bit by bit, spoonful by spoonful. He filled two bowls—one for him, one for his father—and he worked for every single spoonful.

It seemed that it would take him forever. But he never complained that it was cold or hurting his hand or that one of the grownups in the house would have an easier time. He kept going, without complaint, because he knew it would be worth it. In the end, he was one smiling proud 6-year-old as he delivered a bowl of ice cream to his father.

Sometimes the little work is the big work. The little moments are the big ones. So this month, as we count down to All Saints Day on Nov. 1, I hope you’ll join me as I take inspiration from one of my favorite saints, seeking the extraordinary in the ordinary, looking for God in all things.

As I was trying this idea on for size, I was flipping through St. Thérèse’s The Story of a Soul, and I found these lines:

“You will wonder, dear Mother, to what all this is leading, for till now I have said nothing that sounds like the story of my life; but did you not tell me to write quite freely whatever came into my mind? So, it will not be my life properly speaking, that you will find in these pages, but my thoughts about the graces which it has pleased Our Lord to bestow on me.”

Yes! Exactly! St. Thérèse always says it better than I ever could.