This season of the liturgical calendar is called ordinary time. Between Pentecost in late May or early June and the beginning of Advent in late November, there is nothing—nothing to celebrate, nothing to mourn, nothing to anticipate, nothing to reflect on. Just ordinary time.

So much of our lives happen in ordinary time. Literally—the ordinary season of summer and fall is nearly six months, not to mention the winter stint between Epiphany and Ash Wednesday—and figuratively. Most of us can point to the Easters, the Advents, the Good Fridays of our lives, moments and seasons of profound joy and deep doubt, the overwhelming sense of the presence of God and utter despair that He exists at all. But what do we do with the time in between, the ordinary time?

Jesus, too, lived in ordinary time. His was an extraordinary life, to be sure, but He also spent a lot of time walking dusty roads, eating simple food, and praying in the quiet. His Way is remarkably ordinary. He didn’t tell His disciples to chase power or glory, achievements or promotions or Instagram-perfect lives. Instead, He said this:

“I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:5–11).

The past tense of the word abide is abode, which also means home. Jesus invites us to abide in Him, to make our home in Him. And the thing about home? It’s ordinary. Lord willing, it’s the place we come back to, day after day, to be safe and known and loved.

Jesus meets us in our ordinary lives—our dishwashing and deadlines, our laundry and late nights—when we make our home in Him. He leads us to our mountaintop experiences, and He promises to be with us in our valleys. And in the in-between, in our ordinary time, He offers us a home.