Tag Archive Health

ByJennifer A. Janes

Embracing The “New Normal”: How To Handle Change

I’ve been gluten-free since last summer. I went dairy-free the first of this year. I recently started getting back into the routine of exercising four to five times a week, and I’m making every effort to read and crochet each day. In addition to my daily quiet time, I’ve started taking a “time out” several times a day to read some Psalms and pray. In the past few weeks, I’ve drastically reduced my sugar consumption.


Yes, my life looks much different from many people’s. Some of these decisions I made for my physical health. Some of these decisions I made for my mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Following the culture hasn’t worked for me. I needed a change.

 Embracing The "New Normal": How To Handle Change - "The thing about change is that it’s uncomfortable." Jennifer shares some advice on how to handle change in our lives when it is not easy. An encouraging post by Jennifer A. Janes at Raising Sticky Hands To Heaven

The thing about change is that it’s uncomfortable. It’s hard to learn a new way of eating, to rearrange your schedule to accommodate exercise, to stop throughout the day to pause and remember that God is in your day with you and you’re not alone. It makes me uncomfortable to have to ask for the manager every time I enter a restaurant (in addition to being dairy- and gluten-free, I also have a life-threatening allergy to another food) and to demand (nicely, of course) that they take appropriate steps to keep me safe. I don’t particularly appreciate the discomfort involved in exercise and the soreness that accompanies working out.


I do, however, like the results of all of these changes. That’s why I continue to press forward with my plans.


The longer I do these things, the more they become habits, part of the dailiness of my life, the more I embrace them because they’re good for me and because I feel better when I do them.


They become my “new normal.” After a while, they don’t feel new anymore. They just feel normal. Explaining why I do what I do seems less embarrassing and more matter of course. It’s just what I do.


If you’re trying to make big changes in your life, start with one thing at a time. Don’t try to make all of them at once. When one change begins to feel normal, start another one.


There’s no way to tell exactly how long it will take for you to feel “normal” about the changes you’re making. It depends on your personality and the magnitude of the change you’re making. Give yourself grace. Embrace the change, knowing that it will eventually feel normal.


I’m the queen of keeping things comfortable and familiar. Change is difficult and scary for me. If I can do this, you can too. As a wise friend told me last week, “Just do the next right thing.” That’s how you change your life.


What is your best tip for making a big change?



Get Over It!

Johnny Ben, last Summer, wondering why we don't do something when clearly his brother is bugging him.

-David Frost

It’s happened to all of us. Some more than others. You get through one trial only to discover you are in another. And then there are the times that everything is going great, but small things keep happening, making it clear that the devil is determined to bring you down or get in your way.

This has been happening to me lately. A lot… While I’m typing this even.

As moms we all have times like this. Days when things just don’t go right. Months where things fall apart. Years that just won’t go according to plan. Kids fight. Bills are paid late. Babies cry. Homes are messy. Health takes a turn. I could go on and on.

Being that we are human, it is only natural for us to wonder WHY God is allowing this. Especially if we are in the midst of doing something he has led us to do. We’re not angry with him, just wondering. Sure, we all know that he’ll never give us more than we can handle. But why can’t he just stop others from being hurtful & the enemy from pestering or down right attacking us? And then we are so flustered that we dwell on what was done instead of moving on when it is over.

"Why are they so angry, Ron?" "I don't know, George, they won! The other team isn't even mad!" "Hmm, good point. Let's go get some cheesecake..."

Tonight I let my 3 year old and 2 year old (Well, he’ll be 2 tomorrow, you get the point.) get out a toy they hadn’t played with in awhile. (I rotate toys through a cycle in our home so that nothing is taken for granted and all find good use. Okay, and so I’m not constantly tripping on them.) Tommy, the 3 year old, knew that the toy actually belonged to Johnny Ben, my younger boy. He had played with the toy first, but then it was Johnny Ben’s turn. Naturally, this turned into a battle. I had to keep on both of them, but clearly Tommy was not going to stop tormenting Johnny Ben. Finally, Tommy moved on to something else, but Johnny Ben was still upset and instead of playing with his toy he just sat and moped.

This is how it is for us sometimes in the spirit realm. We may be constantly tormented and attacked, but God is always right there playing the referee and sometimes even the defender. He fights off satan and kicks him to the curb. Other times, he settles another person who is causing us grief and sets them to the side, loving them just as much as He loves us. When the turmoil has finally calmed, we sit there crying and grieving when in actuality we should be moving along feeling as happy as can be.

We’re all human and being women we are very emotional, but let’s all try to do our best and give God praise at the end of a battle, thanking Him that it is over and not complaining that it happened. Think about all that you’re missing out on by not moving on and enjoying the life the Lord has given you! Don’t stress, be blessed!