Maybe a hard and messy "normal" isn't so bad!

Sometimes life is just so hard.  Hard. Really hard. There, I said it.

Sometimes I just get tired of being sick. I know many can relate to that! It's simply not what I envisioned for myself and my family. For years I fought against it, resisting a new normal. I never liked that phrase - "new normal".  I suppose that's because I never wanted this type of journey through life to be my normal.  My old normal was just fine. 

I had a great soul baring conversation about this with a dear friend recently.

We talked about our normal. Our messy normal, our hard normal. We cried over  misplaced desires and broken dreams. What was awesome is we cried the big tears that leave you blotchy and puffy and we didn't try to hide from each other. Yep, soul baring indeed! A true gift to be able to be real and be understood. 

Then we did the only thing we could to remedy what was ailing us - we prayed. We were soon laughing together and sharing stories of God's goodness and grace in the midst of this journey we never wanted for ourselves. 

The conversation ended in a strengthened friendship and strengthened faith. 

So, a new normal doesn't have to be about compromised health and the hard in your life. It can be about the best of life - the hope you have, the love you give and receive, the grace you experience. The strengthened relationships and faith...and so much more goodness. 

For several days after that conversation, although my body was quite broken, my soul was recharged. My new normal wasn't so bad afterall. 

So, yes, life is hard. Daily challenges come, but God's grace always shows up.  

How has God revealed His grace and goodness in your new normal?  

 

Chronic illness - pride, isolation...and redemption!

Chronic illness stretches you...stretches you beyond what is physically, emotionally and spiritually bearable on some days, weeks, months or even many years for some. 

I'm going on year 8 myself, navigating life with a rare and progressive Autoimmune Disease (Relapsing Polychondritis) that brought me to my knees. It has challenged me peel back layers to get to "me". Not the me that loved fitness or the me that always had to have the perfect hair or the cleanest house, but ME. The real me. The one God wants to see. Thankfully God isn't looking at my house or my hair because i'm not keeping either of those up very well these days! 

As pride sneaks in, I have been forced to look it square in the eye and, with God's help, get past it if I want our home and family to keep functioning. The friends who bring meals or offer help with the kids etc, are a priceless gift but pride prevented me from accepting that gift for several years. What a loss for me and those who wanted to bless our family in such a tangible way. Thank you Lord, for continuing to strip me of destructive pride!

As pride is slowly being broken down, feelings of isolation and loneliness are being broken down with it.  It's much easier to curl up in a ball of self-pity on the harder days, but that's what the Enemy wants. It's much harder to pick up the phone, call a friend and say "i'm having a hard time.".  Making that call is a powerful step in the right direction and I have found God rewards those efforts.  Many times in the past, friends have offered to come talk and pray with me yet pride kicked in and the messy house or something else so prideful and unimportant was reason enough to say "no". Those "no's" made my pride more solid and lead to so much isolation and loneliness. What a vicious cycle. Thank you Lord, for replacing my feelings of isolation with a desire to connect with people you put in my life on a deeper level. 

Developing a chronic illness seemingly overnight is an adjustment for anyone. A huge adjustment! Life as one knows it is stripped away, but if you allow Him, God will fill you up with so much more than what chronic illness is capable of stripping you of. 

Society teaches us to be strong and independent...but what does the Bible say?

Galatians 6:2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Be blessed, friends! 

xo,

Linda