A New Normal

Since Day #1 of the “Safer at Home Order” I have been begging for things to go back to normal. 

I was frustrated by:

· Meetings being postponed. 

· Having to do grocery shopping for a week or two at a time...who does that?! 

· The anxiety that came creeping back in like my long lost friend. 

· Having to be 6 feet from people (I could really use a hug, that’s not Brooke’s thing). 

· Not being able to just pop in to say “hi” to close friends. 

Simply, not being in any sort of control of what is happening around me. 

“Back to normal” seems to be best. However, when I really stop to think about what was unhealthy in my "normal" and what this time allows for me to change, I realize....

· I used to average about 2,000 steps a day, currently I’m averaging 15,000 

· I have made my meals every day (not only saving money, but eating way better) 

· I have had meaningful conversations with our members, not just the ones in passing because “I’m too busy” 

· I have rested. 

· I have slowed down. 

The point of this isn’t to tell you all the things I have been doing.

The point is maybe it’s time we consider what our “new normal” can look like - one where we focus on our growth and overall well-being. Where those areas are first and not “if I get to it”....The Israelites wandered for 40 years (Father, I beg you - we will get it over these next few weeks) - they had been freed from captivity. The very thing they had begged God for - yet when their “normal” was stripped, and they had to start to live in a new way - one that was dependent on Him, one that received daily manna, one that viewed community differently....they grumbled (sound familiar?!). Suddenly they looked at the old days as the “good old days” all the while forgetting they were in fact in captivity. 

Lord, I don’t know what you want us to learn in this season. I pray that we don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn it. Then may we can truly live it. Thank you for teaching us how to pray: 

Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, As it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, The power, and the glory, For ever and ever.

Amen.