Joy in the Normal

May you feel and see God’s love in the normal.

A few years ago I wrote a short blog entry about the joy of normal after a bout of sickness. Yesterday as my husband and I carpooled to work, I noticed some normal stuff. Four different times, between the telephone poles and wires, above the buildings and traffic, I saw V’s of geese flying. As we entered the freeway ramp, we saw a gap of blue sky above the hills, the gray clouds seeming to hover over us like a big puffy blanket in some kind of lesser gravity. Even in the busy, overcrowded city of San Jose, we see glimpses of nature, and the normal life happening in what seems like almost a different dimension. Last night as dinner was cooking my husband, kids, and granddaughter sat around the kitchen table and chatted. Well, the adults chatted; my granddaughter sang, ran, galloped like a horse, yelled, reached for snacks, made faces, demanded more food and then, when reminded, said please, and on and on and on. Just noticing this normal stuff reminds me of God’s love.

Often events disrupt the normal. Maybe our times of normalcy are just brief interludes. My prayer for you is that you feel God’s love always, and when your life is normal, may peace descend into your soul.

You will go out in joy

and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and hills

will burst into song before you,

and all the trees of the field

will clap their hands. -- Isaiah 55:12