I fell asleep the other night with a memory on my mind. I was in my brother's room, it must have been summer because he had air conditioning and I did not...that was a very hot attack, my bed room. I was "talking" with the guy I was dating and a book caught my eye. I think we were in the middle of breaking up and I cannot believe I just admitted I had a man in a bedroom when I know my girls might read this...BWAH-HA-HA-HA! Oh, that was funny, sigh...they don't red their mother's blog. Where was I? Oh, right, boyfriend, break up, book.
The book had something to do with Adult Children of Alcoholics. When that present day Mr. Not-Gonna'-Happen left, I grabbed the book and started reading. I met myself in those pages and could not put it down. There was a list of character flaws that were particular to the ACOH (Adult Children of Alcoholics) and I found I had most of them. Some of them still come to mind but what popped into my head as I remembered that night was this one:
"ADULT CHILDREN OF ALCOHOLICS GUESS AT WHAT NORMAL IS."
So wait, you mean not knowing what normal is, is normal?
I had it happen again when I read the book, "Wild" by so and so, the one that Rease Weatherspoon did the movie for...yeah that one. The writer's mom had died when she was twenty-five. She struggled through her grief by partaking in lust and wanderlust and all types of self destructive behavior. She wound up looking for herself on the Pacific Coast Trail...found herself. Again, I discovered that all the things I did when my mom died were typical.
So wait, you mean I was typical too?
Normal and Typical. Wow. Part of me is thrilled to know that my brokenness is normal and typical in that I am not alone. The other part of me is a little annoyed. I thought I was special...but than again, Salomon told us this before..."The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Even my realizing this truth, is a truth that was already known before...Normal and typical.
Should that comfort me? Maybe. I think I will let it. Perhaps just knowing that my typical and normal life is extraordinary because it is I who lives it. My sin, my failures, my success, are all a part of the human condition. How amazing that He who is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow already knows. Yes, that is a comfort. Each hair on my head is counted as mine, each freckle on my face is mine...and He says I am a one of a kind, even if my reactions are not. Hmmmm....
Besides my story may be typical and normal but no one tells it like me.
The book had something to do with Adult Children of Alcoholics. When that present day Mr. Not-Gonna'-Happen left, I grabbed the book and started reading. I met myself in those pages and could not put it down. There was a list of character flaws that were particular to the ACOH (Adult Children of Alcoholics) and I found I had most of them. Some of them still come to mind but what popped into my head as I remembered that night was this one:
"ADULT CHILDREN OF ALCOHOLICS GUESS AT WHAT NORMAL IS."
So wait, you mean not knowing what normal is, is normal?
I had it happen again when I read the book, "Wild" by so and so, the one that Rease Weatherspoon did the movie for...yeah that one. The writer's mom had died when she was twenty-five. She struggled through her grief by partaking in lust and wanderlust and all types of self destructive behavior. She wound up looking for herself on the Pacific Coast Trail...found herself. Again, I discovered that all the things I did when my mom died were typical.
So wait, you mean I was typical too?
Normal and Typical. Wow. Part of me is thrilled to know that my brokenness is normal and typical in that I am not alone. The other part of me is a little annoyed. I thought I was special...but than again, Salomon told us this before..."The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Even my realizing this truth, is a truth that was already known before...Normal and typical.
Should that comfort me? Maybe. I think I will let it. Perhaps just knowing that my typical and normal life is extraordinary because it is I who lives it. My sin, my failures, my success, are all a part of the human condition. How amazing that He who is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow already knows. Yes, that is a comfort. Each hair on my head is counted as mine, each freckle on my face is mine...and He says I am a one of a kind, even if my reactions are not. Hmmmm....
Besides my story may be typical and normal but no one tells it like me.
