A New Normal
Waiting for the ice cream boat was our "normal" all summer.
Our new normal will be sans ice cream and sans these sweet faces.
Years ago I read a book by Carol Kent called A New Kind of Normal
"Carol Kent has lived every parent's nightmare. After her only son was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Carol's life took a permanent detour. She and her husband, Gene, have been adjusting ever since, moving to Florida to be near the prison, starting a new ministry for prison inmates and their families, and sharing the faithfulness of God with anyone who will listen.
A New Kind of Normal begins with the story of that horrible night when Carol and Gene learned their son had been arrested, but it doesn't end there. In fact, Carol knows what it means to live with an unthinkable circumstance that will never change-and to still make hope-filled choices. Through the eight chapters in this book, Carol will use their own story, the story of Mary mother of Jesus, and stories of women who have experienced their own "new normal" to share how God has led them to choose life, gratitude, vulnerability, involvement, forgiveness, trust, and action."
For months, I've been praying daily for two families in our church facing new normals. One woman sat by the hospital bedside of her daughter and grandson, praying for them to recover from serious injuries from a car wreck that took the lives of her son in law and two young granddaughters. Life will never be the same for this family.
The other is a very close friend who is awaiting a match for a much needed liver transplant to sustain his life, while at the same time he prays diligently for his own son battling colon and liver cancer who could equally become as desperate for a liver. This friend's life looks nothing like it did ten months ago.
Now I watch my father in law wondering how he will maneuver life without his wife of 72 years. The other day we agreed, it will look differently.
In all these cases Philippians 1:6 remains true "...he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus."
God's mercies are new every morning.
