“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing” (Ecclesiastes 3: 1-22).

I don’t know about you but when I read these words I somewhat cringe!  There is a time for everything which means time changes things.  I like to think of myself as very spontaneous; actually before our kids my husband and I once got in the car to go to church and went to Vegas for the weekend instead without anything but the clothes on our backs.  But the spontaneity it takes to ride the endless changes of life are a bit overwhelming at times even for those of us who think we can handle any change.

With Thanksgiving only a couple days away I find myself pondering and looking at what God has given us this year, what He has taken and how I am responding.  Change happens!  With change comes a new normal…. A new normal is scary when it first starts out; either scary good or scary bad but a new normal is scary.   We have a new normal in our house since last year and I can’t begin to tell you how scary it is.  Our kids are all in school, I am now a mother to five, I have started to tell my story to the world, and we have lived in the same place for more then three years.  This is our new normal or season.

Do I miss the comfy season that I once knew? Of course because I knew what I was doing, I was in my comfort zone. Now I am totally out of it and left feeling like a flopping fish out of the water.

That is when He whispers very softly “Be still and know that I am God” Proverbs 46:10.  Some of the most simple but most powerful words spoken by Jehovah – Jireh (The Lord our Provider, the see’r and Provider of our needs).  He knows what we need.  He knew that taking me out of my comfort zone into a new normal wouldn’t break me (well not yet :)) but build me at the same time.   I am incredibly thankful for that because with each new normal comes new possibilities of growth, adventure and beauty.  And yes it also comes with pain but beauty can come from so much pain; take childbirth or even gardening.   Inevitably I know that He wants what is best for me, that I do not doubt, but sometimes the process and the new season take time to turn into just plain normal.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Are you in a new normal right now that makes you feel like you are gasping for air?  Or are you waiting?

Being thankful for each season isn’t always easy but the beauty each season brings is well worth it all.