12/11/2025
Ordinary Extraordinary
By: Doug Daugherty
An act of heroism can lead to a medal. Breaking a record results in trophies and awards. Closing a big agreement or making the big deal rewards one with profits and promotion. These things are extraordinary. Rightfully we laud them and discuss them endlessly in casual conversations.
But recently, I realized that these were not the sort of things whose influence had an enduring shaping quality. The shaping power is in the ordinary. The behaviors practiced day in, and day out over long periods of time are the shaping things.
Five things come to mind.
One. My father, Harry Daugherty, faithfully served my Mom, O .T. Daugherty, after her debilitating stroke, for 40 years. This behavior calls for an almost reverence. She was partially paralyzed and spoke only a handful of words. O.T had to have someone help her round the clock. Dad did it or made sure it was done. Yes, he had help. But he ate with her, took her out to dinner, helped her walk, took her on trips, talked with her, and saw that she had every type of care. He faithfully served her. Over time, the ordinary becomes extraordinary.
Two. My wife, Sally Daugherty is a woman of prayer. Her practice of intersession for other is just a part of who she is. She has never waivered at any obstacle, responsibility, or future without first breathing a prayer. We have been married for almost 50 year. This behavior has always been there. It pulls you in. This care births hope and, I believe, shapes history. Whether it’s a child, grandchild, neighbor, the homeless, a waitress, a tradesman, a driver, a politician - almost instinctively - she responds with prayer. This is true of family disputes, financial or career issues, the hurting or the ambitious. The ordinary is the extraordinary.
Three. There is something about a well-tended garden over a long period of time that is extraordinary. The order, the knowledge of soil and plants, and the appreciation for beauty cannot be denied. Nothing draws my attention more than an old home with an old rock-bordered garden with flowers blooming throughout the warm seasons year after year. When I see something like that, even after the passing of the one who dug and planted still coming forth in unweeded beds, I am in awe. Who did this? How long they toiled. What vision they had. What enjoyment it had brought. How many people like me have stood looking and find themselves overcome with beauty, peace, or thoughts of a Creator. The ordinary is extraordinary.
Four. The men who shaped the founding documents of this country also draw this same kind of attention. The Constitution and The Bill of Rights are extraordinary. There counterbalancing of Rule and Rights has shaped the modern world. But these men were doing bravely and faithfully what was before them. James Madison used his knowledge and skill in his ordinary way to birth ideas-turned-into-words into something extraordinary. Others, Hamiton, Washington, Morris, Franklin, Sherman, and Wilson in their ordinary work in a time of crisis and opportunity, made significant contributions to what we call extraordinary.
Five. The Apostle Paul is mostly remembered for writing much of the New Testament which has heralded the work of Jesus Christ to billons for thousands of years. But his ordinary was extraordinary. Zeal for the Gospel. Zeal to plant new churches. Zeal to care for there theology and their behavior with letters and visits. Zeal for his students, helpers, and followers. He never seemed to stop. Zeal was ordinary to Paul. We think of the big things, but it was Paul, day in and day out, caring for what Christ had given him that led to all of the fruit.
In all these, the quality of faithfulness over time is what is extraordinary. I did not see this when I was young. Now, after seven decades of living, I see and call priceless this virtue we call ordinary. Appreciation of this type of behavior cultivates and inspires others. The little things may not get a medal, but they are the stuff that changes lives.
