NORMAL

Normal.

Normal is a beautiful thing...an absolutely WONDERFUL thing!

Now I know that you must be thinking I've lost my mind or it's so early that I must not have had my first cup of coffee yet. No, I'm as sane as I get. But I've been doing a lot of thinking about normal lately. And I've come to the conclusion that NORMAL is more wonderful than we have given it credit for before.

Normal is so often given the dubious distinction of being "same old, same old", "boring", "blah", or "ho-hum". Now don't misunderstand, I love a little excitement in my life once in a while just as much as everyone else. A great vacation, a wedding, a new baby, a job promotion, a new house....all are reasons to celebrate and be excited. But.....normal days are not to be overlooked or passed off as worthless. They are to be treasured.

There are many today who would give ANYTHING to rewind their tape and go BACK to normality as they once knew it.

Take for instance, Susan. Susan has been battling cancer since last July. She has gone through the misery of surgery and chemo. There has not been a day in recent months that she has not been in pain...often very SEVERE pain. I can tell you she'd give anything for a plain, old, ordinary day of the past....a NORMAL day.

Then there is Ray. Ray is coming up on the 3rd anniversary of his accident which changed his life and the life of his family forever. Ray is now in a wheelchair. Although he has made magnificent improvement since that fateful day 3 years ago, his life and the life of his family is far from normal as they once knew. They, too, would love to rewind the tape and go back to life as it was prior to March 1, 2005.

Paula was enjoying a NORMAL day just a few months ago....out for her morning walk as many of us do, probably talking to the Lord, if I know Paula, when her life was forever altered in ways that she would have never dreamed. She was hit by a car and as a result has lost a leg and suffered other injuries that damaged her hip. She has been in rehab for months just trying to get the strength to move herself from wheelchair to bed or chair. Walking is to be tackled later as the healing comes. But NORMAL, as she once knew it, is gone.

Now I'm not trying to be morbid. I'm just saying there is a lot to be said for NORMAL days. Days of doing laundry, going to work, driving the kids to school, preparing meals, raking leaves, and walking the dog. If you can go about your daily tasks today, if you are NOT in pain, if you can function on your own without assistance, if you can see the sunshine today, hear the birds singing, if you can feel the embrace of someone you love.....THANK GOD FOR NORMAL!!!!!!!!!!!!