In a past presidential campaign, Warren G. Harding promised his supporters a "return to normalcy"--the way life used to be. He coined the term, but the sentiment is as old as time, I suspect.
Over the last few weeks I've thought a lot about "normal".
What does it mean, anyway?
What exactly qualifies as a normal life, a normal wife, a normal workload, a normal child?
Though those answers elude me, I've concluded that, though we say we want to be extraordinary,
unique,
special--
we really don't.
We want to be normal, whatever that is.
As parents of preschoolers, we declare with utter confidence
(forgetting for the moment that all four-year-olds are little sponges)
that our child surely must be gifted and obviously must be destined for greatness.
Only,most of the time we don't get greatness;
we get normal--
which was really what we wanted all along.
Normal health.
Normal mind.
Normal mixture of joy and sorrow.
(Heavy on the joy, light on the sorrow.)
Normal intelligence
(though,truthfully, if he turns out a little smarter than the neighbor's kid, all the better).
This week, I have listened to a heart tear apart over an elusive desire to be "normal", and I wonder how grateful we ever think to be for our ordinary,
whatever that means.
Be blessed,
Ginger
Thanks for this, Ginger. Missed you lately.
ReplyDeletePraying for you now. Your early morning, my elevenses coffee time.
Praying that you can open your hands and be filled with confidence that He is enough. May the friend who is closer than a brother hold you close and breathe peace into you today.
Even through the rain. Hx
Hi friend! Thank you for your sweet comment on my most recent post :) I have missed you too!
ReplyDeleteNormal isn't that an interesting word - normal is so relative - in my humble opinion - what may be normal to one may not be to another - I feel we all to find OUR normal - what feels right to us and not let anyone else dictate what that should be!
I used to think, "I just want a normal life" because with everything I went through in my marriage it totally didn't feel normal and I thought perhaps this IS my normal - but for me it wasn't normal - and it wasn't normal for my sweet kids. So now we are finding out new normal and it feels good! Whatever that is :)
Hugs!!
xoTiffany
You're right! I remember when I used to think my oldest was sure a genius! Then I had my second and realized, they're all pretty average. Once I started embracing that, I felt much better. I like normal and ordinary!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely something to ponder. Sometimes the 'new normal' is what becomes normal. We experienced that after my Dad was diagnosed with cancer in 2002. I kept thinking when will things get back to normal. What i finally came to realize is that we had a new normal.
ReplyDeleteResponding to your comment on my "Risky Business" post. Women and their relationships are interesting to say the least. It's hard to risk, but lonely not to. All in all, the truth is the longing for real relationship, I'm sure, comes from Him and drives us to His heart.
ReplyDeleteThis is very insightful. If we could all just understand that what we really want is a "normal" life, most of us would probably be a lot happier. Thanks for posting this.
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