This is the story of eating a 3 course dinner soaking wet in the middle of a rainstorm in Zimbabwe. And the story of yellow leaves falling in the middle of summer in Pennsylvania. And how we have often both been so desperate in our dissatisfaction it took us years to find the antidote.
But in this episode we share what that looks like, how to apply it in your own life, and the very best place to take all your longing and dissatisfied dreams. In this episode we share some of the biggest demands we’ve made of God and how He’s answered. It wasn’t what we expected.
Out of the Ordinary
The podcast for anyone who’s ever felt the nagging frustration of wondering if her life is too small, too boring or too ordinary to make a difference. Lisa-Jo Baker and Christie Purifoy, longtime friends and bestselling authors, explore the surprising ways that cultivating ordinary life leads to extraordinary stories.
Visit our official podcast page!
Christie Purifoy
Co-Host
A writer and gardener, her favorite ordinary things include strawberry jam, homegrown flowers, and old books with someone else’s notes in them.
Find Christie’s books here.
Lisa-Jo Baker
Co-Host
A reader and writer, her favorite ordinary things include hot tea with milk and sugar, a good movie, her mom’s hand-me-down books and Sunday afternoon naps.
Find Lisa-Jo’s books here.
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This is a story about placemaking around the table. This is Chapter Ten of Placemaker in Christie's own voice (can you hear a hint of Texas drawl?). Our favorite thing about podcasting is sharing stories with you in our own voices. With...
Ep. 23 – All Our Nosy Listener Questions Answered
This is a story about our nosy listeners whom we love! So many of you have had so many questions for us over the past few months. Here are all your answers! Christie and Lisa-Jo put their feet up, pour the tea, settle in with some chocolate and...
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#outoftheordinarypodcast is on Instagram!
Three things on this Monday morning:
1) One of my favorite things to do as Writer-in-Residence at my church is preach the Word as I did yesterday for the second Sunday of Easter. Anyone who is interested can find recordings on the YouTube channel for Church of the Good Samaritan in Paoli, PA.
2) We have our eclipse glasses all ready! Will you be eclipse watching? 😎
3) Which came first: the color scheme in my home library or the colors for my newly completed book trilogy?? 🥰 Do you love color as much as I do?
.
#seedtimeandharvest #weareplacemakers
View
Apr 8
Open
Perhaps you feel a bit torn this week, as I do, between the glorious and the mundane, between Holy Week church services and the grocery list we are drawing up for Easter lunch. On the one hand, we stand on a precipice in the year, and a drama of grief and glory will soon unfold. In many of our churches, we will be invited to participate in moments that are at once finished and past but also ever-present: “Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the ruler of this world be cast out” (John 12:31).
On the other hand, some of us must also remember to buy chocolate eggs for the children’s baskets and the ingredients for authentic southern banana pudding. In my house at least, it’s a family tradition for Easter and only homemade will do.
If Holy Week seems to have its head in the clouds while we must keep our feet firmly on ordinary ground, consider this: on the eve of his crucifixion, Jesus does not explain his death with a sermon or a parable. Instead, he offers his followers a meal.
.
#maundythursday #sacredtriduum #springcomestomaplehurst
View
Mar 28
Open
Does a focus on “best” ever make it harder for you to see the “very good”?
.
It’s a cold, spring morning—much too cold for saucer magnolia blossoms, and it’s predicted to be even colder tonight. Years ago, I was obsessed with the best and the greatest, and I would have ached to see this beauty cut short. But now? Years of tending garden beauty have taught me to delight in the ephemeral. This cold isn’t the best. I would have loved to see this beauty persist into Eastertide. But the recent days we’ve enjoyed with this wonder have still been very good. 💗
.
#seedtimeandharvest #springcomestomaplehurst #magnoliasoulangeana
View
Mar 21
Open
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Three things on this Monday morning:
1) One of my favorite things to do as Writer-in-Residence at my church is preach the Word as I did yesterday for the second Sunday of Easter. Anyone who is interested can find recordings on the YouTube channel for Church of the Good Samaritan in Paoli, PA.
2) We have our eclipse glasses all ready! Will you be eclipse watching? 😎
3) Which came first: the color scheme in my home library or the colors for my newly completed book trilogy?? 🥰 Do you love color as much as I do?
.
#seedtimeandharvest #weareplacemakers
Apr 8
Perhaps you feel a bit torn this week, as I do, between the glorious and the mundane, between Holy Week church services and the grocery list we are drawing up for Easter lunch. On the one hand, we stand on a precipice in the year, and a drama of grief and glory will soon unfold. In many of our churches, we will be invited to participate in moments that are at once finished and past but also ever-present: “Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the ruler of this world be cast out” (John 12:31).
On the other hand, some of us must also remember to buy chocolate eggs for the children’s baskets and the ingredients for authentic southern banana pudding. In my house at least, it’s a family tradition for Easter and only homemade will do.
If Holy Week seems to have its head in the clouds while we must keep our feet firmly on ordinary ground, consider this: on the eve of his crucifixion, Jesus does not explain his death with a sermon or a parable. Instead, he offers his followers a meal.
.
#maundythursday #sacredtriduum #springcomestomaplehurst
Mar 28
Does a focus on “best” ever make it harder for you to see the “very good”?
.
It’s a cold, spring morning—much too cold for saucer magnolia blossoms, and it’s predicted to be even colder tonight. Years ago, I was obsessed with the best and the greatest, and I would have ached to see this beauty cut short. But now? Years of tending garden beauty have taught me to delight in the ephemeral. This cold isn’t the best. I would have loved to see this beauty persist into Eastertide. But the recent days we’ve enjoyed with this wonder have still been very good. 💗
.
#seedtimeandharvest #springcomestomaplehurst #magnoliasoulangeana
Mar 21
