Our New Normal

The first time I heard the phrase "a new normal" it was a few years ago as some MSNBC pundit was talking about the recession or recovery or some mix of the two. The phrase seemed to spread quickly and was being used by some many so quickly to describe life after the financial collapse. The other day I was having breakfast with a new friend. A person I met through church who I have quickly come to trust as wise counsel. He asked me how we were doing. He knows our story and the journey we have taken so far so he simply asked, "how are you getting used to your new normal?" My first thought were those MSNBC folks each morning pouring through overnight financial headlines, but I quickly realized this is a great way to describe our last few months. You see my friend asks this question from a very unique position. He, himself, along with his wife were thrust literally overnight into a family situation that they were unprepared for. They, too, had to struggle through tough, uncertain times in order to reach their new normal. So when he asked I quickly said, "we are good." I have to admit I catch myself sometimes answering questions like this too quickly especially from friends and family that know us well. I seem to think that if I answer quickly enough they will just move on to another topic. Oftentimes and thankfully in the end they do not. They pause and patiently ask again. But this time I have to say that the quickness of my answer did not hide the genuineness of it. We are doing well. Our daily lives have, in many cases, become mundane. To me lately so many of God's continued blessings have been cleverly disguised in the normalcy of a day. There aren't the weekly visits to the cardiologist. The daily feeding logs and texts with Safe At Home folks have been replaced with laps around the house holding both girls as they laugh at each other. Sadly, and all too often, I can't see His blessings in the moment they are bestowed. It takes a little time and reflection to understand they were there all along, filling those times with blessed normalcy. So here's to the mundane and routine. May His blessings be shown to you through them as they have to me.