The Ordinary and Unexciting

• "A house does not have to be perfect to be a home of joy, a child does not have to behave perfectly to love and be loved, and every moment of life does not have to be perfect to be of value. Too often, I realize, we fail to see the glorious reality of the simple joy that abounds in the seemingly mundane routine of day-to-day living. Instead, we tend to idolize the past, idealize the future, and devalue the present.... What better way to show our appreciation to Heavenly Father for what we have than to embrace our lives, albeit 'ordinary' and 'unexciting,' with joy?"
  --Winnie Dalley; Ensign, March 1998, page 59
  

Do you ever feel this way? I certainly do—this really caught my attention and helped me to focus in again on what's really important. It's so hard not to compare yourself with others—it's even scarier to realize that others are comparing themselves to you—if only they knew.

I am going to embrace the dents in the corner of my wall upstairs, and be grateful that my kids were trying so hard to learn to clean and vacuum when they slammed it into the corner, denting it forever more (a memory forever)

I am going to embrace driving Zach to seminary every morning at 6:30 am, because I know all the wonderful blessings he's getting because of it.

I am going to embrace my friends, my friends who aren't movie stars, who aren't rocket scientists, but who are my life line, my comfort, my joy, my strength—I don't know where I'd be without my friends.

I'm going to embrace my sweetheart, my Prince Charming, I'm going to love him for all that he is, and overlook the things that just don't matter.

I'm going to embrace my kids, I'm going to laugh with them, and play with them, I'm going to be thankful for every moment that they're with me, and even after they move away.

What are you going to embrace?

Nursery--what gives???

My current "job," if you will, at church, is the 2nd counselor in the stake primary--over the nursery. Well, I volunteered to do the nursery in our ward until they found someone to do it--which they still have not.

Here's my problem, and I would appreciate ANY, and ALL suggestions--how do you have a nursery when no one is willing to help? Sure, ask someone else to do it, they say yes and never show up. The primary presidency can't do it, they're already overwhelmed with the kids in primary. The parents can't do it because the have their own callings.

A friend of mine suggested not having nursery, she said that when her kids were young they didn't have nursery because there just weren't enough people to make it happen. So, do you suggest that nursery is cancelled and have all the mommies and daddies be upset, or do you ask them to do nursery and have them say they can't.

I am not in any way saying there should not be a nursery, but I am also at a loss as to what any other option would be. The young women can't do it--and there aren't 2 people willing to do it.

A few weeks back I was in the nursery, ALONE! Gasp! I know! I love the kids, and I don't mind it, but I had nine toddlers in there--yes, ALONE! Two of them were tipping over a little toy kitchen on themselves, so I ran over there to stop them. While I was attending to this, two other children on the other side of the room climbed up on the table, and one of them pushed the other off the table--this resulted in a loud thump as his little head slammed into the counter next to the table he was standing on. This was not all--oh no! The entire room was filled with the stench of poop--I think that every one of them decided to fill their britches at the same time! So, we're all crying, (and gasping for some fresh breath), at this point, and I have no one to help me. I opened the door and lo and behold the Bishop, that lucky man, was the first person I saw. I am not proud to say that I was at my wits end at that moment and wasn't overly kind about the way I went about expressing my distress. All the mommies were summoned and little diapers were changed and they sent in a member of the presidency to help me out--thank heaven above!

I am not complaining here--well kind of--I just don't know what the answer is, and I do know that one person in there is ABSOLUTELY NOT SAFE, NOT FUN, AND NOT THE ANSWER! Help me my friends! Ask your friends--draw on the wisdom of your wards and please send it this way!!!!