A 'New Normal', just the thought of it stuns me. Just two months ago this world looks so different. We were having a ball spending time with new friends, creating new relationships and growing closer to a new height of comfort.
What is a new normal? Why are we even talking about a new way of living? Is it really that inevitable?
Let me picture what a new normal looks like in some part of our lives... Last Monday was my son's 10th Birthday. I think he's got a little of my Enneagram 3 in him, planning his next birthday as soon as one finishes! LOL! He really wanted to have a Basketball Party with his basketball friends from school and the Junior Warriors team. He was already planning of hosting a few boys to play ball in our backyard. Dad will do BBQ and mom will prepare some sweet treats. He will have an ice cream cake and they will just play ball and be boys.
That was actually an awesome plan. Plain and simple. Not as complicated as Mom (that's me) would have it planned her way. Then March came, spring break was just starting and the news of "Shelter-in-place" was suddenly a quick overnight reality. No more going back to school after spring break. Basketball clinic for the spring break was called off. Trips were delayed indefinitely. Leaving the house was not even an option.
His birthday was exactly in two months, and so I needed to intervene and made sure he was not making expectations for his upcoming birthday. Sit down talk was successful, he understood that with the current situation all birthday parties will have to be cancelled for this year, including his.
So Last Monday, we orchestrated a Surprise Zoom Birthday Party with his friends. I went out early to deliver some sweet treats to our friends' door, so they can join in blowing candles altogether. With the sweet treat, I taped a couple of candles and a short instruction/message. Everyone was happy to pitch in. The only downside, Baskin Robbins was close so I was not able to get an ice cream cake...but our dear friend came over with a big Red Ribbon cake with a set of birthday balloons, problem solved!
I couldn't really think of any other way for us to do the Party, so we just met for a few minutes on Zoom. When everyone was on and ready, we lighted up our candles, sang a crazy happy birthday and blew the candles! All Zoom style. It was so surreal and yet so sweet. Unconventional but great time for the boys. Our Little Man was a bit off the chart, not sure how or what feelings to express. His "Thank You" was almost inaudible, shy to the point he could have cried. He was happy to know that all his friends had a treat of his favorite cake flavor...that is confetti and chocolate. Filled with happiness to get his new favorite board game of Monopoly FortNite, to receive new set of sports clothes he put on right away and be the apple of everybody's eyes at the Zoom Party. I think he was really happy to see his friends faces all at the same time. He has been missing these boys for the longest time.
So a half-an-hour birthday party was done with half a day's effort and preparation. A story of a lifetime to tell your kids and their kids. A one-of-a-kind birthday celebration for the books.
Kidding aside, this is just a story of our son's 10th, but this is also becoming to be a typical story for most of us during this time of pandemic. We are social beings and for that reason always longing for some form of social contact with our families and friends. Nowadays, social contact means online communication, the nearest way we can do gatherings. I think this is exactly what they meant by "being together while apart". This and many other things are becoming our 'new normal'.
News of school opening are on the horizon, some mentioned of the policies that will be enforced in schools. The 'new normal' will be obvious with masks for both teachers and students. They will be doing smaller classes so the children can sit far enough apart from each other. Some universities will be offering mostly online classes. Lesson instructions are taking shape in other forms, while teachers and school staff are encouraged to dig deeper into their creativity and resourcefulness. Maybe they wouldn't even allow parent volunteers in the classroom next school year. Poor teachers.
Have you opened up in your state? in your country? in your city? Another 'new normal' is the ever presence of hand sanitizers on the walls, by the counter, on receptionist's table and literally everywhere we go! You should have one with you to carry everywhere.
Face coverings or cloth masks are coming out in different shapes, patterns, colors, designs and features! At the gas station, each one is fashioning their favorite colors with masks and gloves...LOL!
What else is changing around us? Groceries, shops and retail stores are shifting to new ways of rendering service to the customers. Curbside pick-up is a new thing! More and more of online shopping is seen. Restaurants are opening with more deliveries and pick-ups rather than dining-in. If and when the time comes that we can dine-in in our favorite restaurants again, a lot of the interior decorations and furnishings would have changed and evolved way differently. All these changes are only for the main and only reason...OUR SAFETY!
One thing we have to remember, with all these changes happening and the adjustments forced on us (pardon me for using the word, emphasis mine), these are all, at the end of the day, for our very OWN GOOD! Public safety is a serious matter for our government. I just hope that some people (and I mean all you politicians from both sides of the aisle!) will not politicize every single decision that our government officials make. Let us pull through this together.
This 'new normal' can be a healthy therapy for some of us. Spending a lot of time together with our family in the same house 24/7, sharing and doing house chores, baking and cooking new recipes and being able to know each other's routine. Family time that we have always wanted to have, quality time to spend with your spouse and kids, seeing each other grow and evolve, can you see this happening in your own circle? I know, I know, this is not for everyone, some can get suffocated by too much time of togetherness. What I am suggesting is just to give this time with our family in our hands a chance to work; explore and try to know your family a little bit more like their everyday routine, habits and some favorite things. Working out together, doing the garden or any DIY improvements in the house or just a project you can all work on together - these can be all therapy for our families to be more intact and maybe to mend those relationships that are bleeding or needing mending.
This 'new normal' in front of us will be here for a long time, let us embrace it with poise and grace. I know that most of us can be "creatures of habit", let us just say that we are creating a new habit for this old creature. Who says "you can't teach old dogs new tricks"? Let us prove them all wrong once and for all.
As I close today's blog, may the faith and fear of the LORD be part of our 'new normal'. Let us be in reverence, in awe and in adoration of our Sovereign God. We will get through this, we hear it every time, but we will only get through this by entrusting our lives fully to the One True God that sustains us all.
”OLORD, I have heard the report of you, and your work, OLORD, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.“ —Habakkuk 3:2
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