I bet all of us want to be extraordinary in some way. Most of us have probably dreamed about achieving extraordinary successes in sports, business, education, parenting, church service, to name only a few areas. We hear exhortations in society and even in our Church meetings to be unique, special, and extraordinary.
I have a confession to make: I am a completely ordinary Mormon. And I feel great about that.
Ordinary can carry with it certain negative connotations–being ordinary can be understood to be boring or insignificant. I don’t believe I am either of those things. But I am very ordinary in the sense of being unexceptional, one of the many, average, and unremarkable. Of course I have my quirks and differences that may set me apart a bit from others. And compared to the rest of the world, being Mormon certainly makes me different.
But among my fellow Mormons, I am a completely average, ordinary Mormon–and proud of it!