When Normal is Taken Away

What do you do when so much of what you thought was normal is taken away? In March I was plopped into a world that somehow existed without work, church, libraries, and the ability to go out without wearing a mask.

I went from being out at least three days a week, to being home every single day. 

I went from never really paying attention to the news, to suddenly I was hearing it all the time. 

I went from being with friends every week to not being able to see any of them.

My world felt like it was turning inside out like I'm sure many of y'all can relate to. When that happened I was faced with a question that has bugged me nonstop for the last two months. 

When normal is gone, what am I clinging to? 

Because honestly, I cling to normalcy to much. That sense of comfort you get from just having consistent work, or getting to go to church. That familiar peace from getting to hang out with friends you feel comfortable with. That feeling of all being right in the world. 

Suddenly all that was gone, and I knew I had been clinging to it way too hard. I found myself getting way to upset over each new restriction placed, and trying to cling to things like books and movies to pull myself through. Only nothing is actually giving me refuge. 

I realized not too long into this whole pandemic that the only place I ever found safety, and a never-changing sense of normal was in God. 

In the midst of unstocked stores, grim news, people going crazy, and a world that is falling apart, God is a sure and steady anchor. He is the one thing in this world that will never change, and I'd say that makes him a perfect place to look for a sense of normal. 

So right now, the world still kind of feels upside down, but I've found that in the shelter of His Wings, I can learn to trust that normal is simply being with Him.