This is the story of a packet of grass seeds and a pitcher of water. What started out as the smallest, most unexpected parts of our ordinary lives have become the very best bits we couldn’t imagine life without.
Welcome to Out of the Ordinary! We’re delighted you’re joining our conversation. As always it was recorded on the third floor of Christie’s old farmhouse, Maplehurst, and today we sat down to unpack the idea that everything big starts small.
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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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#outoftheordinarypodcast is on Instagram!
I always think of early winter as a dreary time of year, but there is nothing dreary about this light, these clouds, and the last few golden leaves. The present moment often gives us beauty and goodness we did not anticipate.
.
So many things in the world and in the news make me sad, and I feel helpless to do anything about them. But I have been given steady ground beneath my feet and people to love. I have dishes to wash and soup to prepare. I have a book to finish writing. A few bulbs still to plant. It’s more than enough to be getting on with.
.
#autumnatmaplehurst #weareplacemakers
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Nov 30
Open
Everything is terrible but everything is beautiful. I’m talking about … Teenagers. So sweet and funny until I check his grades. Marriage. So much love, so why are we bickering? The clouds that finally brought not-quite-enough rain after months of drought. The state of my current book project. But let’s not talk about that. My kitchen! So full of good food. So full of messy crumbs and half-melted lettuce and something that might be a radish or maybe a beet.
.
What is beautiful and terrible and too much and also a gift in your life these days?
View
Nov 21
Open
Today, reading the election results, some Christians say “God has heard our prayers!” Others, reading the election results, cry “God, why did you not hear us?” The critic might say that both have shot their prayers toward an empty heaven where no one listens. The cynic might tell us God doesn’t care who is President and aren’t both sides awful? The wise one might say that prayer is not about asking and receiving but a reaching out for the hand of God. And the ordinary Christian? The one who doesn’t feel wise and worries about the state of the world? I think she might tell us, just keep praying. When we pray, something might shift out there in the world, but—even more likely— something might shift inside of us.
.
Lord, help me to do justice. To love kindness. And to walk humbly with my God.
View
Nov 6
Open
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I always think of early winter as a dreary time of year, but there is nothing dreary about this light, these clouds, and the last few golden leaves. The present moment often gives us beauty and goodness we did not anticipate.
.
So many things in the world and in the news make me sad, and I feel helpless to do anything about them. But I have been given steady ground beneath my feet and people to love. I have dishes to wash and soup to prepare. I have a book to finish writing. A few bulbs still to plant. It’s more than enough to be getting on with.
.
#autumnatmaplehurst #weareplacemakers
Nov 30
Everything is terrible but everything is beautiful. I’m talking about … Teenagers. So sweet and funny until I check his grades. Marriage. So much love, so why are we bickering? The clouds that finally brought not-quite-enough rain after months of drought. The state of my current book project. But let’s not talk about that. My kitchen! So full of good food. So full of messy crumbs and half-melted lettuce and something that might be a radish or maybe a beet.
.
What is beautiful and terrible and too much and also a gift in your life these days?
Nov 21
Today, reading the election results, some Christians say “God has heard our prayers!” Others, reading the election results, cry “God, why did you not hear us?” The critic might say that both have shot their prayers toward an empty heaven where no one listens. The cynic might tell us God doesn’t care who is President and aren’t both sides awful? The wise one might say that prayer is not about asking and receiving but a reaching out for the hand of God. And the ordinary Christian? The one who doesn’t feel wise and worries about the state of the world? I think she might tell us, just keep praying. When we pray, something might shift out there in the world, but—even more likely— something might shift inside of us.
.
Lord, help me to do justice. To love kindness. And to walk humbly with my God.
Nov 6
It was wonderful to listen to you two share; such great conversation.