Normal

As I look at my newest daughter (almost 4 weeks old already), I’ve had time to reflect on a few things. I am learning who she is, and I have all kinds of questions about who she will become. I know from raising my other children that there is a lot about the personality that is not yet defined by age 1 or 2. But somewhere between then and the ages they are now (4, 5, and 7), that unique and defined personality emerges. Each of them has characteristics well known to our family. Now, with a new little person in the house, Audrey is day-by-day becoming a normal part of our lives. It is not like the newness of her is wearing off, it is just that we are adjusting to her becoming a part of our family. And from her perspective, becoming a part of our lives is becoming normal too. She is becoming accustomed to the routines of our family. She will know a dad who is a pastor and a mom who is a teacher. She will know life with 3 older siblings. This all will be normal to her (that is until she looks into the lives of others and realizes their family is different than ours.)

This creates a tremendous challenge for Audrey, and for us as her parents. As parents we ask, “Are we creating the kind of normal that is best for her?” When Audrey gets older, will she ask if we are giving her the best normal we can give? We all know that our own personal struggles and challenges play a part into the kind of normal we are creating. What does Jesus want us to do? Does He want us to challenge ourselves to be a normal that He expects? While the answer to that might be an easy yes, what does that mean for our day-to-day lives?

These are all questions we ask ourselves as we are confronted with areas of normalcy. There is a passage in Scripture that talks about being either hot or cold for God, but not lukewarm (Rev 3:14-16). This sometimes causes us to think that normalcy is wrong.

So, if normalcy is wrong, why did Jesus eat fish with the disciples? Why is one of the areas where He went to visit them after His resurrection a place where they were comfortable? Think about it. The room where the disciples were locked behind closed doors after His death might have only been normal to them for a short time (during the events from the previous chapter of the book of John), but this was not a normal spot for them growing up. A normal spot or task for them before they met Jesus was to be on the lake fishing. With their new normal shaken, the disciples reverted back to their old normal before they met Jesus. And guess what…Jesus met them there.

New normals happen all the time in our life. I’m not sure normal is bad. I think too often we associate “normal” with being lukewarm. There is something to be said about norms that are sinful which need repentance, norms that result from a life change that Jesus guided us to, and norms that are just part of life due to our personality and life circumstance.

This weekend we look at another time after the Resurrection where Jesus meets with the disciples and we ask this question about normalcy. We take time to reflect on why Jesus had breakfast with the disciples, and we look at their changes in norms and what it teaches us.