The one constant in life is change. We move. Friends move. Jobs change. Health declines. Children grow up and independence is demanded while their worlds expand. Death separates us from those we love, and sometimes prematurely. Divorce. An accident. Economic uncertainty. Technology metamorphoses everything from the workplace to our homes, our recreation, and our routines. Expectations, traditions, standards, values, interests – little escapes the commonality of change. My husband and I jokingly reminisce that about the seventeenth year of marriage, not only have the wedding gifts run out, but the major household appliances all need replacing – if indeed they have lasted that long. Change can be a positive, but whether the change has been chosen or imposed on us, it brings a "new normal." Chosen change can be enthusiastically welcomed and adjusted to, much as many kindergartners literally delight in a first classroom filled with new friends and experiences. The teenager with a driver’s license or the young newlyweds embrace change with a passion. But change can also destroy dreams and unleash the furor of unwanted emotions. Fighting for the needed stability to awaken each day and move mechanically through necessary routines, our faith is challenged, barraged with unanswered questions and lingering doubts. Lives can be abruptly interrupted, never to return to the "normal" we once knew, or hoped for.
I have met many whose lives have been abruptly interrupted and I have known the turmoil of such interruptions myself. If ever life stinks, the stench at those times becomes unbearable – apart from God. God is wholly capable and sufficient to walk us through those times, carry us in His compassionate arms, and wrap us securely in His love. As we walk, we slowly, but surely, approach our "new normal." Life will never be the same, but it can be good. The stench that is sweetened by our Father can draw us into a life with direction and purpose. The emotions that have raged can be softened to give impetus to our "new normal." The heart that was left raw and empty can become the soothing oil of comfort and encouragement for someone else who walks earlier in the journey we became so familiar with. I recently returned from an Umbrella Ministries conference where moms gathered who have known the heart-wrenching death of a child. Many had already reached their "new normal" and though their hearts still held a very tender place, their lives were rich with new direction and purpose. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
– Bev
(Related Bible reading: Jeremiah 29:11; Psalm 40:1-5)
