Even when life as we know it has been completely shaken, we should remain focused on God.   ~~~   Is this season one that finds you trying to find a new normal? I’m right there with you. What was… is no longer. Something has changed. Something has shifted in life. For me and my family, we lost my Dad. We’re trying to find a new normal. Some days I feel like a new born calf trying to stand and walk. I’m emotionally wobbly in a way because something’s missing, something is not as it was. A BIG piece of my heart and life is gone from this world. Can you relate? I KNOW you can. I KNOW you may be hurting, emotionally wobbly in some way for some reason. Maybe you’re an empty nester. Maybe you’ve been uprooted and moved across the country. Maybe you’ve lost a loved one or maybe you’ve lost everything. Maybe a diagnosis stares you in the face every single day. While the circumstances vary that may leave us wobbly or searching in some way for a new normal, the root ache I think is missing what life used to be. What used to be was awesome and now it’s not as awesome. We miss what was because what was, was beautiful and full of life and laughter. We can still laugh and have hope and joy in the midst of it all, but it’s a new normal and we’re all in some way trying to find our way. If you’re wobbly today, trying to take a step forward, you’re not alone. I guarantee you, every single person you pass by, connect with or watch in your stories, is walking through something. I’m thankful for new morning mercies and grace we can share. They are poured out for each new day. Lamentations 3:21-23 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. If you’re not familiar with the book of Lamentations in the Bible, it is often called the most sorrowful book in the Bible and it is believed to have been written by none other than the weeping prophet, Jeremiah. Devastation, desolation and sorrow consumed what was left of Jerusalem. What once was, was no longer. What I love about Lamentations is that these are honest cries. We should never hide our grief or pretend we aren’t hurting. Those seasons should move us closer to the Father with our arms raised high for Him to hold us and mold us through it. We can find rest there. We can find strength for each step of each new day as we seek the Lord first and try to find a new normal. In our own seasons of lament, like we read in Lamentations 3, we can call to mind and remember the Lord’s great love, His compassions and His faithfulness. It’s only THROUGH the faithfulness of God that we can stand, even when our steps may be a bit wobbly. I love the phrase, desolation brings restoration. When the landscape of life as we’ve known it is altered, our focus should remain on the faithfulness and goodness of God because THAT is what ushers in healing, comfort, new growth, new possibilities, new purpose for today and bright HOPE for tomorrow. That’s the truth. If you’re finding your way to a new normal, remember… Great is thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see: all I have needed thy hand hath provided-- Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me! I’m Lori Cline