Our New Normal is...

{just to name a few...}

90 to 108 degrees every day, no A/C

eating dinner at 10pm

the kids going to bed at midnight. every night.

people showing up at your door unannounced and staying for hours

kissing everyone hello on the cheek

men kissing men hello on the cheek

volcanic ash is in the forecast

your neighbor getting Hepatitis A

your friend casually mentioning that her baby had Scarlett Fever

the house three blocks away gets infested with black widows

you find out there are also biting red ants, tarantulas, and coral snakes in your new home

you don't have a dishwasher

...or dryer

...or microwave (that works)

you've forgotten what it is like to have a dishwasher and dryer and microwave

you see the five year-old that lives next door walking down the street by herself

you can't eat breakfast because you're still too full from eating dinner at 10 at night

there were 5 murders last year in the neighborhood next door (oops, don't read that, Mom)

your toddler gets bitten by a dog and you're genuinely concerned about rabies

you toddler gets bitten by dogs all the time

going to the hospital, but leaving after two hours because no one seems to be attending patients

dinner guests come for dinner at 10 and leave at 1 or 2am

time is no longer an exact science, but is now expressed in terms of "in a little bit", "this afternoon sometime", or just "later"

a local farmer selling a cart full of fresh farm vegetables at your front door

going to the ATM but there in no money it

no car seats

going to church to find that someone threw a rock through the window leaving broken glass all over the floor

everyone shrugging nonchalantly at any of the above and even remarking, "oh, yeah... that's normal"

hearing your kids speak another language

being so proud daily of your amazing, awesomely generous, thoughtfully kind husband who is reaching so many more people for Christ than you every could

riding bikes with your kids and a dog-sized hare runs across the dirt road

when someone come to your door asking for a Bible

when little kids come to your door selling fresh-picked cherries from their cherry tree

getting mail once a month

never getting junk mail

when someone says they'll come by at 10 and show up at 12

when someone says they'll come by tomorrow, but shows up a week later

when you go to the gas station but they're all out of gas

blood-sucking gnats

Bible study starts (not ends) at 9pm

driving half the people you had over for Bible study home at midnight because they don't own a car

when your daughter begs to go with her dad to take everyone home at midnight, and you let her

losing your life for Christ's sake and find that you love the new life he gave you so much more than the old one

{And you wouldn't trade any of it for the world.}