Sunday, April 26, 2020

New Normal

I had never heard the term "new normal" until April of 2008 when my son Joe passed away. My life and my world had turned upside down. There was such a heaviness in my heart, and my body felt weak. The tears were flowing like a faucet that was difficult to turn off. I wanted to wake up one morning and find out this was all a bad dream,  and I would see Joe again. There was nothing new or normal about this. Many people were telling me that I would need to find a new normal. Since I was not sure what this meant I felt I needed to ask someone. I soon learned that new normal meant that I would have to find a way to live my life without Joe being here on earth. After hearing this explanation, I was utterly crushed. 
When my husband Paul passed away in 2017, I heard this term once again. Many of the same feelings of weakness in my body, tears flowing like a faucet I had when Joe passed away came to surface when Paul passed away. Losing my husband brought extreme loneliness and added responsibility for so many things that I had never had to take care of before. More importantly, I lost the love of my life.
How did I find a new normal after the loss of my son and my husband? I had to learn to put one foot in front of the other, prayer, cried when I needed to cry (still do), and support from family and friends.I have also shared in a series of blog posts ways that have been helpful in my grief. If you would like to read them, they can be found here:
Finding Comfort In Grief Part 1
Finding Comfort In Grief Part 2
Finding Comfort In Grief Part 3
Have you had to find a new normal in your life? The new normal for you may be the loss of a loved one, loss of a job, loss of a relationship, or loss from a health-related issue. It may be something that I have not mentioned. What are some ways you learned to live your life as a result of finding a new normal? 
With the COVID-19 pandemic, we are all having to find a new normal. We all have reached a point where we would like this all to end. We all are wondering, is this going to last much longer? We all are riding the wave of this pandemic, and as we ride the wave, may we express kind words whenever we can. May we be slow to anger and extend grace to family members, friends, and co-workers. Also, it's ok if we need to cry once in a while. God will see us through. Prayer for all of us as we embrace a new normal in our lives. Dear Heavenly Father, We bring to You all our worries, fears, and concerns as we embrace a new normal. We trust You to supply all our needs. In Your Word, we read in Philippians 3:19, "And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Help us to speak kind words and extend grace to our family, friends, co-workers, and everyone we meet.
 In Jesus Name we pray, 
Amen 
If you would like to share your thoughts about a new normal, feel free to share below.
With love,
Patty

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