A prayer is answered.
Maybe a long awaited prayer that you can’t remember a time you weren’t asking the Lord to intervene.
Or He’s answered the under-your-breath request in a flash. Maybe before you said ‘Amen.’
Either way, somewhere inside, a relieved voice says, ‘Finally, back on track.’
Where are you headed? Normal.
The waiting is over. Your life can finally get back to the ‘normal’ you envisioned.
Why do you want to go back? Frustratingly trying to regain the control you never had. When a gust of holy wind has beautifully rearranged your hair and the pieces of your life. There really isn’t a ‘new normal.’ Yea, you talk about it like it exists, but it’s only to cope, instead of embracing the daily adventure that the Prince of Peace has set your feet on.
At this point, you can’t see ‘normal’ in the rear view mirror even if you squinted hard to catch a glimpse. And if you try to look back, to find the way back to ‘normal,’ to feel safe and familiar, you’ll wreck yourself, your surroundings, those you love and the miracle you’ve been given.
You may not have realized when you started to pray that life would be so different now. Exciting, nervous, adventurous, more Jesus-dependant than when you needed an answer.
Your prayer has set you on a daily adventure with very little that looks like everyone else. Your prayer has revolutionized your life. Your prayer has changed the face of His Kingdom. Don’t live like it hasn’t and try to go back to the way things were before.
Embrace His answer and love in it.
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Thank God for new normals! The familiar is comfortable, but I am glad he brings us to new places.
Yes. Oh, life has been so different since I began to pray…never before did I face the challenge of finding joy in the moments that feel too heavy to bear.
stephanie, what you wrote was god whispering words onto your heart to hand to mine. and i’m whispering thank you to him. i love god. he loves us in every moment and it shows. sometimes in the moment, sometimes later. but it shows. –kris
This is just what I needed this morning, made me tear up. No going back.
Thank you so much for writing this today. I lost my mom almost a year ago and each day is it’s own journey. I would get so mad when people said you just have to find your “new normal”, but now when I think of it in this way it is much easier to absorb. I so appreciate you and what you do.
I can relate to you Whitney. It has been 3 years since my mom died, but before that we had almost 2 years of dementia & sundowners. That was hard to deal with. I had to call it my new normal and pray each day for a good one for her and especially my dad who cared for her.
God Bless!
Stephanie, God has used you to also whisper to me… to tell me that the gift, the answer to the prayer is this new normal, of praying without ceasing b/c I am aware of the weakness and of His strength, aware all over again of just how God-dependant I am
This is perfect for my day today. Thank you.
“more Jesus-dependent”
Yes, I am. Because broken doesn’t work any way except with God’s joy and strength.
“Because broken doesn’t work any way except with God’s joy and strength”
I love that
Thank you.
With both parents in chemo it’s a mad treading-water-every-minute-to-keep-from-drowning exercise and remembering that normal doesn’t really exist and when was I ever in control anyway?… thank you.
I lost my mom (57) to cancer in April, and miss her terribly. The entire landscape of my family’s life has changed with her gone, but we are hopeful that we will experience a “new normal” and all that she taught us will get us through. Thank you for this message!
And, Lynne, please know that I am praying for you and your parents today!
So needed this today! God is here and listening! Thank you!
Thank you! After a transformational year, I find that my external has changed completely…the only “constant” is my children, and even they have grown in all ways…and I see that I kept trying to find my way back to “normal”, resisting the overall newness…and how it is all answers to prayers when I open my heart to the present (in all ways!).
THIS was SO meant for ME today! Glad it touched others’ hearts too..but WOW, I needed to read this! THANK YOU!
Stephanie,
Thank you for being obedient and blessing us with your words. This is excactly what I needed to hear today. Of course, it was because He knows.
Blessings,
Clara
The last little bit of this really stuck with me this morning:
Your prayer has set you on a daily adventure with very little that looks like everyone else. Your prayer has revolutionized your life. Your prayer has changed the face of His Kingdom. Don’t live like it hasn’t and try to go back to the way things were before.
Etched this in my journal and on my heart!
WOW! You just described the last year for me. Never did I know the power of prayer until the last 12 months. A new normal…indeed. : )
Your prayer has set you on a daily adventure with very little that looks like everyone else.Yes, Stephanie, yes.
Just moved across the country – because we heard Him calling us here. We left church, family, land to roam, comfortable, safe. And now here we are….6 weeks in and asking the Lord why He brought us all this way. We’re waiting to see – but in the meantime we feel His presence.
He meets us out on the limb, friends.
Love to you all,
Kate 🙂
Hmmm, I just poured out my heart to God last night, asking if I could have ‘normal’ back, again. I’m beginning to see that longing for the past and the sense of normal I felt is not the answer, but trusting him in this moment is the only way to experience true peace, contentment and joy. I’ll choose to continue to live in confident dependence on Him no matter the circumstances. (Hosea 12: 6)
This year has been a year of many many changes. My dad got diagnosed with skin cancer, had stomach issues, depression, and almost totally “lost it”. Stated one day “can’t do life alone”. Fortunately God has brought him through all of this and he is doing much better now. It is only a matter of time perhaps before a relapse or something happens & he may need more assistance than we can give. We have avenues for that. Praise God for new normals!
Thanks Stephanie!
Beautiful. So well said, Stephanie. Entirely appreciated and truly heard, deep in the heart.
Wow, I so needed that today. These last two and a half years have been a roller coaster of changes that I expected would eventually lead me back to “normal”. That is not going to happen is it? And truly, when I think of it, I wouldn’t want to go back to who I was back then. God’s working in my life has been gut-wrenching but glorious.
Thank you for your post.
Poetic and lovely– the new normal. The old is dead and what is new, what is unknown is rich in His love and glory. My new normal is just that, new. Praise God!
“Don’t live like it hasn’t and try to go back to the way things were before.” That speaks to me. Thanks, Stephanie.