my pseudo-elizabethan garden
I finished my first mowing of the spring season the other day. I am very happy that the green grass is back and growing!
The hard thing about the first mowing is figuring out just how to go about it. After the long winter, the guidelines that were well-worn into the grass by the end of summer are all gone. It is like starting from scratch.
Life can be kind of like the first mowing can’t it? I mean, one minute everything is going along at its pretty pace and then suddenly a winter of an interruption moves into place and before you know it all your neatly organized systems of living, all your patterns, your regimens are broken.
In the middle of the interruptions we keep wishing for things to get back to normal.
The child is sick and we say “When the sickness is over and he’s well again we’ll get things back to normal.”
In the midst of the bankruptcy we keep reminding ourselves “It will all be back to normal soon.”
But when all is said and done and the chilly trial is coming to its glad conclusion what I have discovered is that what I once considered normal has disappeared. The lines of normal which once seemed so clearly etched into the lawn of my life have up and gone. It seems that just when I am all set for normal to return what was normal has ceased to exist.
As I started up my mower the other day I quickly realized my dilemma. I couldn’t see the old lines I used to follow and I had forgotten where they were. You would think after a hundred times mowing the lawn it would be simple to just pick up where I’d left off, but something had changed over the winter. I burned some brush opening new areas of lawn. The snow plows had chopped up another section. A branch fell here. Some new seedlings I wanted to keep had sprouted in odd locations there. My old methods didn’t fit anymore.
Maybe you have been through a trial. Maybe life has changed unexpectedly and now you are finding what used to be normal no longer fits. What’s a body to do?
1. Let go of old patterns that no longer fit. Nothing stays the same forever except God. Come to it that He is the only One who is the same yesterday, today and forever.
2. Embrace the opportunity to try something new. What was normal no longer is but God can bless the new patterns of your life as much as He blessed the last maybe even more so.
3. Give yourself a break as you begin to change. As I was mowing the new pattern into my lawn I realized that some of the new things I was trying to get the lawn done were not working or looking so good. That’s OK. It is only the first mowing. I have a whole summer ahead to get it right and so do you!
Lillie-Put 
This is good, Pastor J and you are right, your normal is no longer the norm.
But finding the new normal can be a lot of fun.
Great analogy, Pastor. And your garden looks so restful!
It is! Thanks for stopping by!
There’s a lesson in everything if we just look for it. The green is looking good! What grows on your trellises?
On the front trellis is climbing rose and honeysuckle. On the trellis at the back and the four pillars are grape vines. This year I am going to add supports between for the vines to wind around.
This was really helpful, Pastor J! Going to share it with others that have gone through some rough changes and finding new normals. God bless you!
Thanks Deb! I am glad it was helpful. I hope it helps others.
Thank you for that reassurance. 🙂
~Lindy
You are welcome Lindy. Thanks for stopping by!
SUCH a great blog post!! And I couldn’t agree more! When Nate started to recover from his assault, we realized that life wasn’t going to go back exactly to what it had been. There was the trauma of what had happened, the reality that our financial plan was not going to happen (we still don’t know what the new financial plan is going to be, as he’s still on disability), and the realization that his numb leg is probably permanent. We had to chose to be overwhelmed by the new situation… or to embrace the new normal. And I have to say that even though it’s different, the new normal is pretty good. 🙂 Sure, I have my days when I think about how much easier life would be if it had gone according to our plan. 😉 But life rarely does that. So there’s freedom in embracing the new normal… and trusting in a God who never changes. I loved your first point: “Let go of old patterns that no longer fit. Nothing stays the same forever except God. Come to it that He is the only One who is the same yesterday, today and forever.” So good!!!
I am glad this ministered Nicole. The new takes some getting use to. All change seems difficult until it is no longer change but the pattern we have become use to.
Great thoughts from daily life. Thanks for the challenge presented and for the encouragement.
>> “what used to be normal no longer fits”
This has been my experience all this year. I can no longer do the things I did without thinking before my fall. Depending on others and hobbling around with half steps is frustrating to say the least.
I don’t know what is ahead, but I do know God is still on the throne. I know He cares about me and for me and will continue to work in me to achieve the best.
Thanks JE.
PS the garden looks great and very peaceful. I take it for granted you have a ride on mower, not a push one?
Oh no I totally push my mower around the yard. It’s one of the reason I am letting the roses have their way. Less to mow and it smells so good!
Well of course you would let roses have their way! It would be a crime to curtail them.
Well they have sort of taken over. I have roses up thrity feet in the trees.
Realizing that we got time to mow right the many landscape of life gives me comfort and yes, hope. Thanks for today’s inspiration!
You are welcome. I am so glad we serve a God who doesn’t demand we get it all perfect on the first or the five hundredth try.
It’s true….we are always searching for normal. “When I get back to normal..” I remember thinking after I broke my ankle and ended up with two chronic pain conditions….”I am going to have to redefine normal and think this is what is…for now.” Because I knew I would never go back to what I had…but better to let go of the past then spend a lifetime wanting it back and wasting all those days and moments.
Your garden is all so green…and SO HUGE!
Can’t wait to come home and see it.
It will be nice to have you back Sis. Then everything will be normal! HAHA!