Life as we know it has changed. Life isn’t the same. Our normal changed overnight. We are in uncharted waters. We’ve been thrown into the unknown and it wasn’t our choice. Normal is gone and just as we thought we might be getting through the worst of it, our social distancing got extended. At first it was 15 days. Fifteen days turned into 15 more. Which, has now turned into who knows how long?  And today, my family, as many of our friends, found out our senior’s school year is done. For my son, his baseball season is over. He won’t have a Senior Prom. The school won’t be hosting a Senior Day. And graduation, who knows? As of now, they don’t have one. I’m not surprised the rest of the school year was cancelled, deep down inside I knew it was going to happen, but I was holding out for hope, that this would soon be over, and he could finish out his Senior year like planned. But here we are, staring at another harsh reality of our new normal. I know this is only one of many new realities of our new normal. Healthcare has changed. Church Services are now online. Hugs are not allowed. We must stay 6 feet apart. Weddings have been canceled. Loved Ones cannot attend funerals of family & friends. People have lost jobs, while others are working from home. Students are  “Zooming” and parents are helping with online learning. Our children are trying to understand what is going on in the world and looking to us to help them, when we ourselves struggle to make sense of it all. And this is just the short list of what has changed. Every day we are hit with some new “not so great” news. We are struggling with the new norm.

For me, I’ve been here before, in the land of the unknown, figuring out a new normal. It happened June 4, 2018 when I was diagnosed with Still’s Disease. Overnight my world changed. I was in uncharted waters, the land of the unknown and it wasn’t my choice. I was forced to learn a new way of living, and it was not easy. I struggled. I was frustrated. I was irritated. I was mad. I was sad. Most of all I grieved. I grieved for the old me. I grieved for what was, the way things used to be. I longed for what could no longer be. I imagine, many of you are now feeling this way since COVID-19 brought the way we lived life to a screeching halt. You are frustrated. You are irritated. You are mad. You are sad. You have been forced to learn a new way of living, and it isn’t easy. You are grieving for what you have lost, the way life used to be, your old normal AND THAT IS OKAY! It is okay to be mad. It is okay to be frustrated, irritated, and sad. It is okay to grieve. Ecclesiastes 3 tells us “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:  . . . a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain . . .” Life is going to wax and wane. We are going to vacillate between periods of I’m not okay to I’m okay. It is the ebb and flow of life. We are going to be on the mountain tops and then find ourselves in the valleys. What I found is during those valleys, of lost and hard change, I had to acknowledge my grief. I had to call it what it was and sit with it. Working through my anger, my grief, my frustration, my not being okay was a process and I couldn’t rush it. I remember when the doctor’s diagnosed me and started the treatment, I felt they expected me to be okay. It was as if because we now knew what I had and what I was facing, I was magically supposed to be fine. Yea . . . that didn’t happen. I remember thinking, “Okay, when patients receive a life altering diagnosis please give them time to sit in their new reality. Please don’t try to rush the mental recovery process.” I even took that thought to Twitter! 

What I want you to hear today is, It is okay to not be okay right now. You have just received a life altering diagnosis. Take the time you need to sit in your new reality and don’t rush the process of working through what you are feeling and experiencing. Acknowledge it. And as you work through your feelings, your grief, and not understanding, look to God to help you. Call out to Him. Spend time in prayer and in His Word. Sit in Silence before Him. He is how I got through my new normal of living with Stills. And right now, He is how I am getting through the new normal of our life during the COVID-19 pandemic. He is where I find my help. We are told in Psalm 121, “I lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip- he who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you – the Lord is your shade at your right hand: the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm- he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” I love this Psalm. God is my helper. He is my strength. Nothing that has happened or will happen surprises Him. He watches over me and He is watching over you. During this time of unknown for us, it is not unknown to Him. He is our ever-present help during this time of trouble. He is our refuge and strength! (Psalm 46).

My sweet friends, my hope is as you grieve what you’ve lost and are figuring out our new normal, you will seek The One, who knows and understands best. God knows. He understands better than anyone. He gave His One and Only Son Jesus, so we could have eternal life. He loves you and me that much, that He gave His ALL to save us. We can trust that He watches over us. We can trust that He is our help. We can trust that He is our refuge and strength! We can trust Him. If you don’t know Him, my prayer is you will come to know Him as your personal Lord and Savior. He alone saves. He is our ever-present help in this time of trouble. Keep looking to Him!