Ephesians 3:20 – Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for his miraculous power constantly energizes you.

Gratitude 683

How many times have you thought to yourself, “Next week, when I have a ‘normal’ week …”

But then, normal never quite happens.

Something always comes up, changes or surprises us.

It’s this thing called life.

What is “normal” anyways?

Your normal may not be my normal. My normal certainly is not Hubby Rick’s normal. We have this concept that someday, any day, things will be more normal. Manageable. Less chaotic.

But does tomorrow every come? Well, maybe for a bit; until something else comes up.

And then, we get frustrated and distracted and wish for a normal day/week/month/year soon.

Nearly 20 months into a pandemic, and we’re all exhausted and ready for normal. This is more common theme these days. While it feels and seems that some things are more normal, we are all aware that we are not quite there yet. More than one person has commented that they are “so over” the pandemic. What does this mean going forward? I am not sure.

Sometimes, I find myself looking at my life and wishing some things were different. Let me be clear. I know that most of my “wish list” consists of things that really are first-world problems, meaning minor compared to what others deal with. And yet, it is so natural and normal for us to look at our daily lives and crave for something different. We look at someone else’s life and wonder why they always have it together.

Interestingly, they maybe looking at your life and wondering the very same thing.

We can put so much energy into wishing for a life that we do not have that we forget to live the life we have right now. Here. In front us. Worts and all.

So, the next time your brain is trying to convince you that your life is anything but normal, stop. Stop the chatter and nonsense. Yep, your life is NOT normal. Most people do not have a normal life. You have YOUR life. You get to life your life if you choose to do so. Yes, there will always be things outside of your control. But there are a whole bunch of things that you can influence.

You get to choose your normal for today.

• Celebrate that you have a place to sleep tonight and a bed to do it in.
• Give thanks for food to eat throughout the day.
• Appreciate the people in your life who bring you joy every day.
• Value the little things that really are the big things.
• Smile that you get to choose so many things every single day.
• Jump for joy that you woke up this morning and have a pillow to lay your head upon tonight.

Will there be things that will muff your day and distract you and challenge you? You bet. And yet, this is the normal way things happen. Something comes along you didn’t expect, and you get to decide if this will be a positive influence in your life or not. You will decide how much negative energy the situation will drain out of you. And whether it will derail your entire day or just a few minutes.

Some people have a higher tolerance for the unexpected than others. This is normal. OK. We all decide whether a non-normal situation is going to derail our day or not. We have a say in how much tolerance we will withstand in our lives.

When our worlds are turned upside down, it gets graining after a while. Exhausting. And we’re ready to be done.

Maybe it’s OK to have a not-normal normal for a while. Maybe this is life. We are given the promise that God will be with us in every yucky situation out there. God’s wisdom and guidance and grace is right there. They are normal, there every single day.

But somedays, we simply forget to accept them.

Begin there. Begin here with making these things form God normal. God’s normal means no are never alone.

What a wonderful normal moment it is when we remember to live our one life like this is the most precious thing we have. I pray this will feel very normal for you.

For accepting my “normal” life just as it is, I am grateful.

Blessings –

Dianne

Almighty God – Too often, we wish for something “normal” and miss out on good things happening in our lives today. May we see the grace and wonder and great things you place in our lives right now. Please place in my heart the desire and yearning to love my life today. Amen.