We all have our routines. You go to bed. The next day, you expect to wake up and get to your regular morning routine.

My morning begins with meditation and then goes into making sure the kids have breakfast and lunch made, teeth brushed, papers signed, and are out the door. Then it is back to getting ready myself.

 

I pretty much take it for granted that some similar version of this routine will happen each weekday morning.

A little over a week ago, that didn’t happen.

Around 5:30am, I was awoken to a beeping noise. At first, I just thought it was our dishwasher going crazy. No one else heard it but I woke my husband to go check it out.

The beeping wasn’t the dishwasher. It was our carbon monoxide detector.

Minutes later, we had police, firefighters, and an ambulance in our driveway.

Thankfully, we were all fine – no carbon monoxide poisoning.

The reason we had CO was because our boiler zonked out. We wouldn’t be able to get a new one until the following day. Of course, this happened the night there was severe weather warnings of wind chills of 10 -20 degrees below zero!

 

 

 

What happened next was such a beautiful testament to how thoughtful and caring people are. We got phone calls, texts, emails and facebook posts of people offering to help out from meals to showers. What we decided we needed was space heaters.

By 5pm that night, we had at least a dozen space heaters, with more people volunteering to drop off theirs as well. Our home was actually toasty!

I was having my own “It’s a Wonderful Life” moment. Instead of sharing money with George Bailey, we had neighbors and friends sharing heat. Just like George became “the richest man in town,” the Bersell’s, without a boiler, was now the toastiest home in town.

My heart is forever warmed by the support of others.

So I was given a gift this season that I’d like to pass on to you: To be reminded of how the ordinary really is extraordinary.

The seemingly small gestures that make a big difference to someone.
The 5% of bills that become laws (and I often don’t pay attention to) and save lives, such as the Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act of 2010.
The ordinary routines that feel extra special after being disrupted.
And so much more!

There is no better time than the holidays to slow down, witness, & celebrate the extraordinary that exists in the ordinary!

PS: A great last minute gift that can keep you and those you care about safe:
A CO Detector!

Here’s the link to the CO detector that kept my family safe: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/first-alert-battery-operated-carbon-monoxide-alarm-white/5578229.p