Normal is heaven.

There's a saying that hit me hard:

A healthy person has a thousand dreams, but a sick person only has one.

When we're in an unhealthy place—whether it's sickness, a tough relationship, or work stress—all we want is to escape the pain and return to… normal.

As I walk around my office dictating this newsletter, I think of someone who hasn't walked in years and what they would give to just move around freely, unassisted… normally…

The funny thing about normal is that it feels so ordinary - and if normal is our ordinary - then isn’t that a form of bliss?

Imagine young parents pacing around sterile hallways and cluttered hospital rooms as their child lies waiting for that hopefully life-saving surgery. Can you see them? Can you feel their desperation - grasping at any sign of hope?

If they had the bandwidth for anything else, they might think about how they wish for normal.

I can see them staring out the hospital room window at the highway traffic jam in the distance.

They would give anything for the mundane moments of normal life.

They'd trade hospital visits for hectic school mornings. They would rather be stuck in traffic than in that room with all the tubes and machines keeping their child alive.

Normal looks like heaven to them.

Normal is an actual slice of heaven.

So, make hay while the sun shines.

If you can walk around your office, create content, lead worship, or mow the lawn—do it. Not everyone gets to.

Remember, if your life is normal, you're probably living the life you once prayed for—and that billions of others around the world are praying for now.

Give thanks with a grateful heart for the things you take for granted, and learn not to take them for granted.

Thank God we have so much to take for granted.