On the Other Side: Embracing our "new normal"

We've been here for six weeks. "Here" is our new home in an urban neighborhood of Indianapolis, a change from the suburb of Fishers where we used to live. We've begun a new adventure and are on the other side of "giving birth to our dream." Like the realities of middle-of-the-night feedings, exploded diapers and inconsolable melt-downs, we have had adjustments to make. But surprisingly, they haven't been--at this point--huge or overwhelming. The joy of living the dream is certainly outweighing the adjustments.

Here are a few of the "new normals:"

• We see poverty every day.
• We see black people every day--not always a given in Fishers.
• We take walks or bike rides most days and encounter the disparate mix of beauty and barrenness: quaint manicured homes and a homeless man sleeping under a bridge; the striking skyline of our city  along the gorgeous Cultural Trail and the presence of abandoned homes and trash littering the streets. 
• We shop at stores that are unfamiliar and remind me that I'm not in Fishers any more. 
• We live in a one-hundred-year-old home with wide doorways, 10 foot ceilings, which creaks and sighs and has stories to tell.
• We (occasionally) still search for light switches, open the door to the closet thinking it's the bathroom, and forget which direction to turn for the microwave.
• We set an alarm when we leave and when we go to bed.
• We spend more time staying than going--welcoming people into our new home who are curious about what we're doing, interested in spiritual direction, or friends who want to see our new "digs." 
• We walk about with deep joy in our hearts for how God has blessed us and for how glad we are to be on this adventure together.

Any transition from one place to another invites us to experience a "new normal." Some aspects of the new are more difficult to adjust to than others. Perhaps we will experience more challenging or disagreeable ones on down the road, but right now we are amazed with how much we feel at home. Our life seems to suit us well. All the wait and worry was worth it!