My New Normal

It’s Sunday morning.  Palm Sunday, no less.  It’s been one week.  ONE WEEK since I was at church, and a simple shake of my husband’s head with a tear in his eyes literally brought me to my knees.  One week since my “normal” was shifted completely off its axis.  One week, that feels like YEARS.

I now wake up suddenly awake, suddenly aware, suddenly stunned.  I used to hit my snooze on my phone like 5 times (I have it set for 5 minutes, so it’s not THAT bad) before I would actually crawl out of bed, and trudge to the bathroom.  This week, I wake up AWAKE, alert, and too aware of my new normal.  My mind spinning, my gut twisting, my heart breaking.   I want to get out of bed, just because I can.  I want to LIVE every moment that I have been blessed with.  I want to open the Word and seek God.  I want to hear the birds, see the trees, and be fully alert when my kids wander out of their rooms.  I want to FEEL ALIVE.

I wasn’t even supposed to be home this morning.  This 3^rd weekend of the month is the one Britt and I usually serve at all 3 Sunday morning LifeChurch Stillwater services as Host Team Leaders.  We switched with another family since I was supposed to be in Oklahoma City.  I was thinking about that Friday night, and had convinced myself I didn’t need to go to church this morning.  Too emotional, too raw, too REAL.  Britt asked me last night if I was going, and I said no.  But, I think I will.  They say when you fall of a horse, you have to get back on.  And you know, my last post before this NIGHTMARE began was about taking the Twisters to see “Soul Surfer”  about Bethany Hamilton and how she survived a shark attack.  Well, I guess it’s my turn to survive.  THIS is my shark attack.

I start each day in a quiet place, in God’s word.  In these modern times, that means, for me, in the living room, in my recliner, laptop perched on my lap, internet browser pointed to youversion.com.  Right now, I am reading 2 reading plans – one called the Essential 100 which covers the 100 most important passages of the bible, and Lent forEveryone which is a 53 day devotional about Lent – which lasts about another week (I think it goes 3 days past Easter, for some reason).  After I read my 2 readings, I pray.  Then, sometimes, I write (like today).  But I ALWAYS find a verse that God is speaking to me and I post it to my Twitter and Facebook.  Not everyone starts their day in study like my husband and I choose to do, but I can at least help some of my friends start their day with God’s word.  I am going to share with you here this week’s verses.

April 10 – Sunday:  Psalm 130:5 - I wait for the lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.

April 12 – Tuesday:  Psalm 91:4 - He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. ( I missed Monday)

April 13 – Wednesday:  Isaiah 40:31 - but those who hope in the lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.  

April 14 – Thursday:  Romans 5:3 - We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 

April 15 - Friday:  Hebrews 10:23 - Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.

 

April 16 – Saturday: Philippians 4:6 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

April 17 – Sunday (today):  1 Corinthians 16:13 - Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.

I hope you can find strength and encouragement in those verses just as we have.  And, if you want to start your day in the word, just a little bit, you can follow me on Twitter   – even have it sent to your phone if you want!  It’s as easy as that.  The more we know God, the more we know peace.

I’d better rally the troops (and count my new gray hairs – there’s a LOT of them suddenly).  Church starts at 10:00 for us today.  Family is starting to roll in.  My cousin got here yesterday afternoon from New York City with her ADORABLE 6 month old son.  She brought gifts to Emma, Lara and Jake.  They will all 3 be wearing New York City tourist-y shirts to church this morning!  I’m sure I’ll snap a pic of that…

…because normal isn’t working

We all know people that are weird in a weird way.  And people that are weird in a good way.  But, what about people who are weird in a GOD way?  Craig Groeschel started a new series at Life Church this weekend called WEiRD.  Matthew 7:13-14 says “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

I am really excited about this series.  Pastor Craig is going to teach about what it means to be WEiRD!  Many people can walk the broad road and live a “normal” life, but only a FEW can be on the narrow road, be weird, go against the crowd, and live for God.  “If you want what normal people have, do what normal people do.”  What is normal?  Stressed, hurried, broke, in debt, broken relationships, troubled marriages, tension, messed up values?  “If you want what few people have, do what few people do.”  BE WEIRD!

Britt and I are sure people think we’re WEIRD because we start each day in a quiet place reading and studying the bible with youversion.com.  And I KNOW people think we are WEIRD because we are doing the unplugged Monday nights with our family (I know this because of the feedback we got on facebook!)  We are weird – we don’t have any credit cards or credit card debt.  If we don’t have cash, we don’t buy it.  And we sacrifice!  But you know what’s even weirder?  We are passionately in love with our Lord and Savior, each other, and our family.  The joy in our lives is deep and rooted in the truth of the Word.

You want to know more?  Ask me.  You want to hear the message?  Go to Lifechurch.tv and watch part 1 of the series, WEiRD!

OH – and Craig Grosechel wrote a book to accompany this series as well, also called WEiRD: Because Normal Isn’t Working – it comes out on this Tuesday (but we got advance copies at church this weekend!) and can be bought at Amazon.com. 

Are you going to be WEiRD?