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?