Normal?

Yesterday my family experienced a little glimpse of what a return to ‘normal’ might look like. I preached at a church in the morning, we attended a birthday party for one of the girls’ friends (socially distanced, outdoors, and only families whose adults had been vaccinated) and then each girl went to a church event (at a different church than were I had preached that morning). It was delightful to see other humans outside of my small bubble. It was great to see the kids interact with other kids; running, giggling, and just being kids, pre- pandemic style. Both of my kids have been doing virtual learning for the past 12 months, so they have not really seen friends for over a year.

It was nice to see people face to face without masks, even if we were 6 feet part and outdoors on a slightly chilly day. It was nice to see the kids at the church activities happily playing with masks on and enjoying being back on church grounds.

I went to bed last night exhausted. As an introvert, a day full of people, after a year of social isolation, was exhausting. Yesterday left with me a mixture of emotions; joy, happiness, worry and concern. It all was intermingled. I went to bed wondering how we had done it—life pre-pandemic. How had we lived life when each minute was filled with activity and scheduling? How had we kept up the pace and fit it all in? I also went to bed wondering how I could hold on to the lessons learned throughout this year of isolation as we headed back into the new normal.

I don’t want to forget to enjoy my children before they are grown and leave the house. I don’t want to go back to a life so busy that we don’t enjoy the small things along the way. I don’t want to go back to a time where the have to and must do’s are more important than enjoying and caring for the ones we love.

How do we find the balance? How do we incorporate the lessons of the past year into the life that we build moving forward? I don’t want this past year to have been for nothing. I want to keep the good and let go of the bad.

Yesterday’s glimpse of normal left me with joy and hope of a return to ‘normal’. It also left me with many questions of how to move forward into a better life than the one before.