Adjusting to a new “normal”
My days used to be pretty predictable. As much as I dislike monotony, I must admit our house had a consistent rhythm. My time possessed a routine. Of course, these were the normal days.
I would wake and get the family ready for the day with showers and clothes and breakfast. We would enjoy a leisurely morning of the kids playing nicely together and me getting some writing done. I’d work on a few projects, book reviews, blog posts … check my favorite blogs. I’d update facebook and twitter and maybe look for a new craft or recipe to try. The afternoons were equally delightful errands, household chores and trips to the zoo or parks.
Life has changed.
My husband, who typically stalks me on facebook and twitter, complains each night that he no longer knows what’s going on in our house while he’s away! I have been online very little lately. I haven’t blogged in two weeks. I am adjusting to a new normal.
I am tempted to say this new routine (or lack thereof) is just the house stuff and soon it will all settle back to what it used to be. But I’ve been saying that for six months now. “Oh, when we get past this milestone, things will calm down.” And then something else happens to stir our anticipated calm. We raise hope for a respite from activity just in time for the next milestone to remind us our “normal” has changed.
Gone are the days of calm routine. Single-tasking is a thing of the past. Drama abounds and I am finding a weird sort of serenity in that consistent unpredictability. This is my life now.
Our latest drama: My mom graciously drove more than 700 miles from her home to ours to help us unpack and fix up the house. What was meant to be just a few days will soon be three weeks. She was here less than 24 hours before we had to take her to the ER with stroke symptoms. Her “vacation” has included four nights in the hospital, seven new medications (including a weekly injection), lots of naps and a whole new diet. She’s adjusting to a new normal, too.
Add that my mom is now living with us to the list of recent adjustments.
This was not the best year for me to host a Read with Me challenge.
Maybe the point of all this was simply so that I could encourage some of you to do it. My mother-in-law, who is doing this with us, is so excited about it! She’s already planning to do it again next year. Rick, who doesn’t want to admit he’s part of this nearly all-girl challenge, reads almost an entire book a day. It’s fabulous! He’s loving it. I’m loving seeing him love it. I’m sure there are more of you with testimonies of great encouragement.
But as for me, I’m getting nowhere fast.
Let’s see … I am in Romans 1 (the beginning of March), Joshua 10 (beginning of April), and Psalm 59 (the middle of March). I can admit I’ve skipped ahead and read through Esther already and I am at least in the right month for the Gospels. I’m up to John 10. All told, I’m a combined 14 months behind. I may finish this challenge before I turn forty, but that may be pushing it. At this rate I’ll need more than six years.
I don’t want this, my first post in two weeks, to seem negative. That is not at all my intention. I’m not upset about this new “normal.” It just is what it is. The redemptive truth is that no matter how my life changes, God never does. He is always the same, eternally faithful, good god He has always been. He is my God and He is awesome.
So how are you doing?
4 comments July 23, 2010
Read with Me: Check-in!
Hey folks! Right now I am not feeling well at all. On top of that, my dishes are stacked way too high, boxes surround me, walls wait to be painted and I have at least three professionals coming to work at my house today. Needless to say, blogging is not at the top of my priority list. However, it has been a while since we’ve had a “check-in” and I don’t want y’all thinking I’ve quit. I haven’t!
I’m still behind, but I’m reading. I’ve read through the first few chapters of Joshua and I’ve started Romans. I’m still chugging along in the Psalms and the Gospels, too.
So, how are you doing? Who’s still with us? Who is on the two-year plan with me? 
4 comments July 9, 2010
If I could have tweeted …
If you’re wondering at the deafening silence around here, it’s because (1) we were living with my in-laws for two weeks and (2) once we got into our new house, we didn’t have the internet. Oh the things I could have shared with you! You know, if I hadn’t been crazy busy with new house stuff. So, here are a few things I would have tweeted if I could have.
June 28th, 11:37 AM
Our walk-through is scheduled for noon. Why is a moving van still in the driveway?!
June 28th, 12:02 PM
The previous owners are not out. I think I just saw kids shuttling stuff to the neighbors’ garages. This isn’t good.
June 28th, 1:20 PM
Guess who gets to buy a new washer and dryer this week. #alwaysgetitinwriting
June 28th, 1:49 PM
Um … they’re still not out. Guess this means we get to do all the cleaning. Lucky for us, they left a tushy-load of cleaning supplies. I wonder when they were last used. (!)
June 28th, 5:02 PM
I know I should be uber-excited to be in our new house, but it feels rather surreal. Are you sure there aren’t any more hoops we must hurdle?
June 28th, 6:50 PM
They took the carpet!! Guess that means “re-finishing hardwood floors” moves to the top of our to-do list.
June 29th, 7:18 AM
I love waking up here. All the windows and surrounding foliage … I feel like I’m in a gorgeous tree house a la Swiss Family Robinson. THANK YOU, GOD!
July 29th, 11:04 AM
ACK!!! I finally found the coffee maker only to discover I have no mugs! Why didn’t I pack those in the same box?!
June 29th, 2:02 PM
Oh, yay. The kids just introduced our family to the neighborhood by screaming for Satan to stop chasing them. That should build normal friendships.
June 30th, 9:08 AM
I have a clothes line. Oh, the mixed feelings …
June 30th, 10:11 AM
Okay, I *think* our stuff will be here next week. Is Monday really a holiday? C’mon. Can’t we have fireworks on Sunday? Oh, well. Camping isn’t so bad.
July 1st, 11:12 AM
My son just flashed the Verizon guy. At what age will he learn to close the bathroom door?
July 1nd, 12:31 PM
My children ate oreos and ice pops for lunch. Where is Peapod when I need them? Oh, right. I need the internet for that … maybe tonight.
July 1st, 1:33 PM
I think my heart has started beating again after the near-death of my children. Who throws throws carpet rolls from a second floor balcony without warning?! Do you not hear my very loud children playing there??
July 2nd, 9:17 AM
I just found a grasshopper in my bedroom. When I said we would be “camping” I only meant sleeping bags — not critters.
July 2nd, 11:29 AM
I feel suddenly short. While putting away groceries I discovered I can’t reach any of the top two shelves in my kitchen. Are these 9′ ceilings? #Ineedacuterstepladder
July 2nd, 2:01 PM
Packing paper takes on a whole new purpose when your daughter is an artist. And the clothesline has found a purpose holding watercolor masterpieces.
July 3rd, 8:20 PM
WOW. Prices have gone up since the last time I used a laundromat! Five bucks per load in the washer. This is CRAZY! Oh, and a quarter for EVERY seven minutes in the dryer?! I’m quickly going broke.
So that’s my recent life in a nutshell. I’ll fill in details on another day. Perhaps when I’m not so exhausted and the kids are calling for my attention. Later, peeps!
4 comments July 6, 2010
How My Children Keep Me Humble
In addition to being a nurse, cook, maid and therapist, mothers often need to be dictionaries. I am constantly defining words for my kids. Recently they asked me what “humble” means. I explained that being humble is to know exactly who you are. You don’t think too much nor too little of yourself. I also told them that God wants us to be humble by knowing who He is and who we are before Him.
It seems they’ve taken this lesson to heart and, always my little helpers, have decided to encourage my humility.
Here are a few conversations we’ve had lately.
Zach: “Do you know who is the very best mama in the whole wide world?”
Me, welling with pride at the expected answer: “Who?”
Zach: “Grandma!”
Ellie: “I want to be a writer when I grow up.”
Zach: “What’s a writer?”
Ellie: “It’s what Mommy does.”
Zach: “Write books?”
Ellie, laughing: “No, silly! Mommy doesn’t write BOOKS; she writes EMAILS! She READS books.”
Zach: “I love all mommies. Mommies are the BEST!! (long pause) Even you, Mom.”
3 comments June 21, 2010
What difference does it make? (Read with Me)
At this point in our Read with Me journey we’ve read a lot of the Bible. Almost half! Some parts are incredibly interesting. Other parts are … well, the catalyst for skimming and the reason many people never make it through a challenge like this.
And So-and-so begat this person who begat that person who begat someone who was killed after he broke a seemingly innocuous law of God, but only after he begat another name I can’t pronounce who only had daughters (the poor wretch) and they all made up this tribe that numbered blah-de-blah thousand people who inherited a land I’ve never heard of.
You all know I hold the Bible in utmost esteem. You also know I’m honest. I am not mocking or making light of it at all. Quite to the contrary! All of Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching and edification. So, why is some of it so boring?
I admit there are days I complete my readings with glossy eyes. I walk away wondering what difference it makes. Since Jesus freed us from the necessity of animal sacrifices, why should I care how many bulls or rams or goats were murdered by which tribes thousands of years ago? What application can I find for my life within the census of an ancient nation?
We’re all reading a lot and I don’t want to burden you with more, but if you struggle with these same thoughts, let me recommend something.
The Power of Praying Through the Bible
by Stormie Omartian
(Harvest House Publishers, 2008; Available in paperback or Kindle)
This title by a familiar author presents a devotional organized in biblical order (Genesis to Revelation). Each incorporates a personal application and a prayer prompt based on the specific Scripture highlighted. Now, not every piece of the Bible is given a devotional. This morning I looked for something on Luke 5 and found nothing. In fact, she skips the whole first ten chapters of Luke. The majority of the book (about four-fifths) is devoted to the Old Testament, which is where most people have trouble finding application anyway.
So, how are you doing? Are you still with us?
Has anyone blogged about their journey? I would love to link up, if you have. Just let me know and I’ll insert a Mr. Linky so everyone can share.
4 comments June 18, 2010
My Tale of Real Estate: (Hopefully) Nearing a Conclusion
Now sit right back and you’ll read a tale,
A tale of real estate.
I’ve never seen Gilligan’s Island,
but think the theme song’s great!
Okay, now that THAT tune is firmly planted in your subconscious, I will confess the truth. Much to the dismay of my uber-fan brother-in-law, I’ve never seen a complete episode of Gilligan’s Island. I did, however, play Mary Ann as a camp counselor. You know those fun little start-of-the-day skits the counselors do to embarrass themselves entertain and teach the kids? Yup. I can’t remember if Gilligan’s Island was the theme for that week or what. Regardless, I was an adorable Mary Ann while my then-boyfriend played the gorilla. It was fun. I wish I had pictures of that …
Has anyone noticed my ADD this morning? I think it’s in high gear. What is this post supposed to be about? Oh, right! An update on our house situation!
Let’s see … we started this in April – right? Our house was on the market for three weeks when we got an offer. After some negotiations, we came under contract. Just hours after that, our buyer left the country — for two weeks. Unfortunately, just days after she returned, her mother passed away. Then she became very ill. All this left us in a torturous state of uncertainty. Her home inspection was postponed three times. Every deadline was missed or moved. Inspection issues were excessive and argued to the point of absurdity. All the while, we were under contract for our new house in a precarious state of contingency. Our new mortgage was secured and daily moving toward its expiration, while our buyer had yet to start her mortgage process.
Each week that passed reminded us that we are in control of nothing. Fortunately, we know the ONE who is in control of everything! One moment everything was great, the next everything was falling apart. We went from having no sale to having a sale and a purchase and an unexpected tax refund to having two houses to having none. On more than one occasion my husband believed we would be homeless before the end of the summer. It seemed details consistently built up beautifully only to be knock-down seconds later.
Long story short, we had to surrender our new home and take a firm stand with our sale contract. (Read: an ultimatum.) We were fully prepared to re-list our house and find a rental, if necessary. Convinced of God and His power, we found peace and a rather bizarre state of fearlessness. That’s when everything fell into place. The owners gave us an extension on our contingency. The buyer moved into action. Even the mortgage companies came together. Our inspections (yes, plural — I think we’ve had a total of six on our sale and one on our purchase.) passed as well.
So where are we now? Philadelphia. Well, not exactly, but kind of. The dates work out so that we actually are homeless for a while, but that’s okay. We’re staying with family and counting the days. Eleven. In eleven days we should have the keys to our new home. In eleven days we should be done with all this hub-bub. In eleven days I can breathe a sigh of relief as I acknowledge none of this has been in vain.
But I’ll not wait eleven days to praise God. He has been — as He always is — immeasurably faithful through this whole process. He has brought us to deeper understandings of His Scriptures, to a closer relationship with Him and each other, to a closer walk with Him. He has orchestrated details and made Himself seen by those who do not yet believe in Him. Our agents, even our attorney, said they’ve never dealt with such a crazy case of real estate. Now they have seen that chaos evolve into order, all while hearing us proclaim His sovereignty and rest in His grace.
God is so good. In the face of all we’ve endured, the heartaches, the uncertainty, the disappointments and the triumphs, I will CHOOSE to say “Blessed be the name of the Lord!”
That’s my tale.
7 comments June 17, 2010
Read with Me Check-in: June 12th
This is going to be short and sweet because I have a lot of packing to do today. Guess what — We should be in our new house before the month is out! 
Wahoo!!! I’ll fill you in on it soon. In the meantime …
How’s everyone doing? Are you still with us?
Rick has been doing a read-through as well, but he’s been on a chronological program rather than the one I’m doing. This week he decided he needed some poetics and New Testament to balance out the Old Testament. We’re trying to get on the same page, so we can be reading the same passages each day. I’m trying to catch up to where he is in the Old Testament. and he’s trying to catch up to where I am in Psalms and the New Testament. (I’m up-to-date in the Gospels.) I must confess he’s doing much better at catching up than I am. We can thank his two hours on the train every day. He almost read through the entire book of Matthew just yesterday!
I gotta pick it up because lil ol’ me is still in Numbers. Yes, yes, I know that by the end of June, even on my own schedule, I should be done with 2 Kings.
I’m working on it and still determined to meet our January 1st deadline. I’ll get there! Fortunately for me, we will have some time living with my in-laws in between houses, so that coupled with the long drive down there should give me plenty of time to read. At least that’s my plan.
The less disciplined, more ADD side of me, however, dreams of all the museums and parks we can visit during our short stay in Philadelphia. Hmmm …
So, talk to me! Are you still with me?
3 comments June 12, 2010
Random things Mama loves
Mama loves that I haven’t felt a bit guilty for not blogging this week. I haven’t felt the need to explain or offer excuses. I’ve been perfectly at peace in my silence.
Mama loves Zach’s imagination! He recently proclaimed a house fly as his new best friend. He named him “Chung” and cried hysterically when I set Chung free out an open door. Later he explained that Chung would be back. He was on his way to Africa and would soon return with lots of pictures.
Zach has also been very vocal about his “big brain.” If ever I ask “How did you know that?”, the answer is always the same: “My big brain told me so.” Today he said that he didn’t remember a particular thing because his “big brain flipped over dinners” and made him forget. I’m not sure what that means, but I love it.
Mama loves summer! Yes, we have a lot going on, but there is something absolutely delightful about sunshine and sweet breezes and days free of regular routines.
Mama loves that no matter what happens, God is in control and we can rest contentedly in His mighty embrace. I really wish I had an update for y’all about the house. I want to show you pictures and celebrate, but it still feels premature. This whole process has been a tremendous roller coaster, and we’re not unbuckled yet. I wish we were! But we’re not. And that is perfectly fine because we KNOW who is ultimately in charge.
Rick and I have been talking about Zach lately, and the truths he represents to us. Now, I’m going to be totally honest here, so don’t judge me. We didn’t want him. When we found out I was pregnant — again — we both kinda freaked out. Ellie was only 8 months old; we were still figuring out this whole parenting thing. It had taken us four years and a butt-load of tests and procedures to get Ellie, so Zach coming — while we were actively trying NOT to get pregnant — was a shock, to say the least. And neither of us was happy about it. It took us time to adjust to God’s plan. We are SO THANKFUL that He didn’t listen to us!! I look at that gorgeous son of mine and am overwhelmed. I can’t imagine my life without him! He is absolutely precious … a miracle … and I love him to pieces.
So, who am I? Who am I to know what my life should contain? Whatever God wants me to have — or not have — I’m there. Bring it on! Because I know from the depths of my toes that God’s will and timing are perfect. They’re PERFECT! I love it.
Your turn! What are you loving today?
3 comments June 8, 2010
Our God
I heard this song for the first time this weekend while visiting my brother’s church. It has been on a loop in my mind ever since, which is a very good thing. I’ve had a really rough day, a rough weekend … the entire past week has tested my faith. I need a mantra like this, one that persistently reminds me of truth.
Lord God, eradicate my unbelief and strengthen my faith!
I place my trust in YOU alone.
2 comments June 1, 2010
