A few years ago, our family moved into a new house.  It was much larger than the lovely little starter home we had just moved from, and what is the best part about moving into a new house – decorating it!  I excitedly shopped at all my favorite stores and frequently visited my happy places (Winners and Homesense) to find the perfect décor.  I came home one day with a sign that I loved – it said,

“Find Joy in the Ordinary”

It’s your standard wooden sign with a cute rope hanger but I just really loved it.  The problem was I could not find a place for it.  How did I have all these extra walls and no spot?  It was too big for here and too small for there and it finally just sat on my bedroom floor for months along with all the other art and pictures I had yet to hang.  Because lets be real – buying the sign is so much more fun than the measuring and work involved in actually hanging the sign. 

One day I was doing laundry and looked over at the blank wall beside my washing machine and realized – that’s it!  I hung the sign in my laundry room and there could not be a more perfect place for it. 

Let me just clarify – I do not have a pinteresty laundry room.  It is only the size of my washer and dryer, there is lint on the floor and mismatched socks and treasures found in pockets scattered across the tops of my appliances. 

It is an ordinary laundry room. 

And to be honest, doing laundry is a pretty ordinary thing.  That is why I love having that sign in my laundry room. . . it is a constant reminder that everyday life is pretty ordinary – and yet there is still so much joy to be found.

I have never climbed Mount Everest (and let’s face it – I never will).

I have never performed at Carnegie Hall (and again let’s face it – never will).

I have not spent years of my life in a scientific or medical field developing earth shattering advances in technology,

I haven’t traveled to other continents to give of my time and means to eradicate disease or adopt orphaned children.

This list could go on and on and sometimes I let myself feel discouraged because…

my life does not feel extraordinary. 

Sometimes climbing my stairs to put a tired child to bed feels like my Mount Everest for the day. 

Sometimes singing popcorn popping with 30 hyper children in primary is the extent of my Carnegie Hall performance. 

I may have not adopted any starving orphans from across the world, but I have four beautiful little souls on loan from God and he has entrusted them to my care. 

So how do I go from ordinary to extraordinary? How does anyone?

I think the answer is in a small wooden sign hanging on my laundry room wall – find joy!

Russell M. Nelson said it perfectly,

“the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.”

I have put this principle to test time and time again and it never fails me. Ultimately I want the focus of my life to be my Savior Jesus Christ and his gospel. That is the end goal. Getting there, however, requires a lot of trial and error throughout the small and seemingly insignificant moments of my day.

exhibit A: my three year old spills her sticky pink smoothie everywhere because she was playing with her twisty straw (even though she was told not to). If the focus of my life in that moment is the cleanliness of my kitchen or the fact that we are already late for school – I am instantly mad, agitated and purely focused on cleaning up the mess (followed by some form of discipline).

However, if the focus of my life in that moment is my children and my role as their mother, I will use this opportunity to love and teach them.

I can teach them that we all make mistakes and it’s okay.

I can teach them that my love for them is more important than any mess they make.

I can teach them the importance of work and accepting responsibility for our actions, “that’s okay, let’s clean this mess up together”.

I can even use this opportunity to teach my children about the scientific law of gravity!

The point is – the circumstance did not change. My focus changed.

Now I never said I was actually good at this – there are so many things in my life that I allow to rob me of joy (spilt smoothie has definitely been one of them). I am as human as they come. But I am trying – and that’s what matters.

So to all the Moms out there scraping cheerios off your floor and finding another melted red crayon in your load of whites, I invite you to join me in the daily effort (and sometimes struggle) to change your focus and find joy in the little things. In the little moments. In the little triumphs. Because at the end of the day, I hope you feel the same as I do…

I have an extraordinary life!