What is your normal? Normal. A word that can easily be associated with a lower standard of life than may seem desirable and yet if you were to take the word to the Doctors office a set of ‘normal’ results is the most desirable.
As I began to prepare myself for moving from the USA to the UK & Europe I was very aware that there would be many ‘trappings’ of life which would change for body, soul, spirit and relationships. The test would be whether these elements of life were things which I would rely on and therefore not only miss but their absence or change become an obstacle to carrying with me everything which I have learned and obtained these past 15 years at Bethel Church.
Initially when the phrase ‘finding normal’ came to mind I was hoping that its meaning would be something related to ‘without malady (sickness)’. Sadly the etymology of the word was not related to this. But still the phrase seemed to fit my journey and I suspect the journey of many others who return to ‘normal’ after an extended period in another culture or experience.
And so begins my journey, a journey into an ever healthier ‘normal’, not a substandard way of life but a revised and adapted ‘normal’. A way of life which doesnt depend on what is on the outside but on what has happened inside of me and allowing that to affect everything which is around me.
So I invite you to join me on my journey and to share yours. Maybe you have been at BSSM or another school of ministry, but even if you haven’t I expect that the journey will reveal things for all of us.
I suspect that normal, rythym of life and rest are in fact all related and that they form the foundation on which the extraordinary exploits of life can be built and achieved. I desire an extraordinary ife but on the way in the midst of change I am looking for ‘normal’, on which everything else can be built and to which I can regularly return and find rest and refreshment.
#findingnormal
#icantturnrightonred
