Before Normal

I ran into a neighbor friend the other day and felt prompted to take some time to check in on how she was doing. She had lost her spouse of 57 years earlier in the year. As we talked, she used a term that I myself have used on many occasions and have shared with many individuals and families following some season or change. She talked about her "new normal".

The idea behind the term, "new normal" is the recognition that what once was in the past, will never again be the "norm" again. Life takes consequential turns and where we find ourselves after that moment in time, becomes the new normal.

There are all kinds of life-events that result in a new normal: death, diagnosis, relocation, accidents, disabilities, loss, divorce, kids leaving home, cancer, tragedy, marriage, the start of a relationship, the birth of a child, the first day of school, the first day of college, getting a driver's license, and on and on and on.

You will notice that all "new normals" are not negative in nature. It is simply what it is, "a new normal".

As I think about that term and the constant chronology of time; one of the things it means is that when you find yourself in a new normal, the old normal is no longer normal. It has been redefined as "before normal". Depending upon the moment in time that redefines where you are now (New Normal); it may be hard to look at what was as "Before Normal", but it is. Normal is where we are now. Everything that came before, is "Before Normal".

We all had one of those time-shifts 11 years ago today. In fact, I would venture to suggest that you all know where you were and what you were doing when you received word that planes were crashing into buildings. Everything changed in that moment. We didn't know it at the time, but everything that happened and was known prior to that moment was suddenly redefined as before normal. The world had changed.

I think that is one of the reasons that it is so important to know God personally. He is the One who never changes. He is beyond our "before normal" or "new normal" or even our "next normal". He is immutable, unchanging, constant---God.

James 1:17 says, Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.

God does not change. He is our one constant.

Today is one of those days when we remember and even grieve for the time that was "before normal". Today is a reminder of just how much we need an unchanging God in our ever changing world. So would you spend some time praying today, not just remembering:

• Today would you pray for those who lost loved ones on 9/11?
• Would you pray for those families that were forever changed?
• Would you pray for those families that have entered a new normal by the wars that followed?
• Would you pray for the thousands upon thousands who have sacrificed life for our freedom or have endured life-changing wounds?
• Would you pray for our first responders, whom we now forever value more deeply since that day?
• Would you pray for those around the world who continue the fight for freedom's cause?
• Would you pray for our nation's leaders who carry the mantle of leadership and responsibility?
• Would you pray for peace in our war-torn world?
• Would you pray that God's Kingdom would come on earth?
• Would you pray so that you may take full advantage of this day that you have to love and delight in blessings of your current normal---before it is past?

In many ways, today is a day of grieving---grieving for the time before normal. The right response on this day, is to turn to the one who always the same.