new normal...

"Somewhere along the way, we figured out that normal is just a setting on a dryer." 

-Anne Lamott

I could not get my mind off this in thinking about you on my run today. 

I tracked down the entire quote which is from a book Anne Lamott wrote about being a new mother. She said, "The stories here are not by or about normal mothers, because we've finally stopped falling for the great palace lie that such a person exists. Somewhere along the way, we figured that normal is a setting on a dryer. That there is only us-- mothers who think and feel and love, who do the best we can, struggling and laughing more than we thought we would, and yelling and learning and regressing and pleading, sometimes crying in frustration, and then, a little later, in gratitude for the blessing of being mothers, as all the while, one day at a time, we watch our children grow." 

Of course, this does not just apply to mothers. It applies to the two of you as you are embarking on this journey together in your engagement, in your time going from Nashville to Pittsburg (and back again several times), in house hunting, in Abby's transition with her second graders, in the many days to be spent in the hospital, in all the navigating of the unknowns that are ahead.... 

In the midst of all of this, I am praying for you all to find a new normal...