The Scent of New Normal

New Normal. I first read those words in  90 Minutes In Heaven by Don Piper. Pastor Piper had survived a horrific accident, and life as he knew it, ended. Each day, whether a day of struggle, pain or doubt or a day of joy, was now his "New Normal".  Forget about the life we are familiar with...when it changes, it becomes the life we now have. Embrace it....it's yours.

My New Normal is wonderful, so why the belly-jitters? I had prayed for twenty years that my husband and I would retire to Florida. We have. I dreamt of hibiscus flowers. I have three trees. I'm healthy, fit, happy and content.

So? Why the butterflies? Why the gut-tightening feeling? Two days ago, I dedicated my walk not to my daily rosary, but to sorting the whys. It was a glorious autumn day...mid-seventies, sunny, breezy. I walked the mile to Victoria Commons, then made my way around the community pond.

I took a deep cleansing breath. Ah, autumn without leaf raking and anticipation of snow-rutted roads or black ice. The sun was warm on my face. Another deep breath. A whiff of smoke passed under my nose. Local farmers were control burning somewhere in the distance. I knew this, yet I pictured a roaring fireplace instead.  It triggered half-forgotten memories that could be tasted. My stomach flip-flopped. The scent of pine rose up before me. Around me were dozens of pine trees, their needles a carpet on either sides. The sun dappled on the pond. That's how God must smell, like pine...clean, woodsy. A masculine scent. Prayers drift up to Him like incense, the fragrance like the smoke around me, earthy and pungent. I closed my eyes. How could this be Florida? Smoky air, pine trees with pine cones of gigantic proportions? But it was Florida. And the reason for my excitement.

Thanksgiving and Christmas were peeking around the corner. I couldn't wait to prepare my first holiday dinner in my new home. God had gotten me here by way of a bumpy road. My New Normal was being a retired Floridian living in a community I love. I felt like a new creation, a kid again. I was filled with sheer excitement.  My tired decorations--straw pumpkins, baskets of silk flowers and a pine cone turkey that Jared made in kindergarten-- now looked perky and fresh. I saw this all with childlike vision. It's the way God sees us....as children. In His eyes, we are innocent and apt to fall in a pile of pine needles. He plucks them off us and steadies us on our feet.

 Every day can be a new normal if that's what we desire. Or it may-- just happen. For me, it took years of waiting, an abundance of prayers, much faith and many falls. God dusted me off and set me back on my feet. He gave me the desire of my heart. I knew it when the well-beloved scents of the north  became a familiar fragrance of the south.

New York will always be a part of me. It's said....you can take the girl out of the Bronx but can't take the Bronx out of the girl. It isn't the snow storms or ice slick roads I will recall, but the scent of a crackling fire and huge, sticky pine cones. It's autumn at home. Autumn in my new normal, Florida.

Back Door Blessings

If Back-Door guests are the best, then Back-Door blessings are even better. This is an unexpected blessing that pows you right in the kisser. You don't see it coming and in my case was, at first, painful.

On August 28, 2011, Hurricane Irene blew through NY. A NY hurricane is rare and doesn't usually make landfall.  Hurricane Irene had been predicted as mainly a wind event. We had National Flood Insurance because our home was close to the Mahwah river. When we bought our home, 28 yrs ago, it would take 5 days of rain or a tremendous snow melt to get 2 inches of water in our basement. Over time, the Town of Ramapo & Village of Montebello failed to do the proper dredging and it took just a few hours of rainfall for water to rise at the edges of our backyard. "Fighting City Hall" was futile...we were always on their "work order".

So, when the forecast called for a hurricane, we took our valuables to the second floor, lifted the furniture on saw horses, waited & prayed. Saturday night the winds howled, the rain beat mercilessly. We checked the basement on Sunday at 9 AM....the carpet was dry. We had dodged the bullet...Not!  Suddenly at 10 AM, we heard a hellish sound....crack, crack, pop! Were the basement windows shattering? No. The foundation of our home was caving in! We raced to a neighbor on higher ground. All we could do was watch. And pray. The event was over by 1 PM.

Finished Basement Before Damage

Destruction! Note the water in the clock

This story actually begins over 15 years ago. I started to pray about our retirement many years ahead of time. I don't believe in praying for a need just before it is needed. For instance, I prayed about my future daughter-in-law when my son was 14! Four sisters and my parents had moved to Florida...I dreamt of Hibiscus flowers each day. Visualization and all that. My only child had moved to Florida. I couldn't think of a better place for retirement. In 2009, my husband accepted an offer from his company and we put our house on the market. It was the midst of the housing crisis. 2,000 homes in our county were for sale. What was the chance our home in a flood zone would sell? It was a lovely Cape Cod and all who saw it thought it was "darling", but....

Nothing deterred me. All things are possible for those who love the Lord.....right? I had Masses celebrated for this intention, said novenas to every saint possible, buried dear St. Joseph in my garden AND said his novena for 6 months straight. I offered my daily rosary for the sale of my home. Certainly, the Holy Family was interceding? Every priest, nun, fellow Christian, even a Bishop or two were praying for my intention.....nothing. Silence. My family and friends continued to encourage me. Delay is not denial. But when Lord? When? I vacillated between stoic resolve and a raving maniac! I prayed just as hard for the family that would purchase my home. "God let them love it as much as we do....let them have as many happy years as we've had". There were times I couldn't pray another word....stopped praying to Let Go & Let God. That didn't last....so I prayed even harder and well....raged a bit more. What kind of woman of faith was I?

Finally my prayers were answered...in the form of Hurricane Irene. 9 homes in a row were damaged, but ours was the only one taken off its foundation. Had the damage been less severe, we would have had to rebuild, put it on the market again....and perhaps still be there. A wonderful general contractor and a engineer, whom I had met through a church project, gave us a quote to raise our home above flood level and the cost to demolish the house totally. The cleaning out, the decision making, the FEMA paperwork was overwhelming. My health was affected. We were living with in-laws. We were "homeless" at the age of 60! What was God thinking?

He was thinking of us. He loved us more than I realized. He didn't do this, but allowed it to happen for good reason....to answer my prayers. How could I have doubted? He had it under control all along. Not just for me, but for the family who might have purchased our home. Perhaps, a young family holding a huge mortgage. Hadn't I prayed for them, too? My husband and I could shoulder this misfortune. After all, we didn't have a mortgage...we wanted to retire....we had two dear men who surprised us with an offer to buy our home (for a pittance) and would "flip" it. The money didn't matter....we wanted out. We learned God was in the details. My faith, my relationship with my husband grew stronger. When even a niggling of doubt nibbles at me...I slap it down. God always has a plan...the best plan. I just need to trust in His Divine Mercy and enjoy the ride...which took me to Florida a week before Thanksgiving 2011. I'm truly thankful, thankful for my blessings, my Back-Door blessing.

Our St. Joe home in Florida!

BTW, the builder of my new home? St. Joe...does God have a sense of humor, or what?


 

Under Mary's Mantle

There are so many beautiful images of Our Lady. Who couldn't love Our Lady of Grace so sweet and gentle, or want to fall into the arms of Our Lady of Consolation, one's heart goes out to the weeping Our Lady of La Salette, and you can almost smell the fragrant roses of Our Lady of Guadalupe. All so different, yet so much the same...a mother-loving, kind, caring and crazy about her Son. She always points the way to Jesus, something only Catholics seem to grasp about her.
I have a special devotion to Our Lady of Fatima. Besides, the wonderful story that surrounds this image, I had the opportunity to have her visiting statue in my home some 15 years ago. It was a beautiful experience, a prayer-filled evening, and the beginning of my friendship with the Mother of God. I think being the mother of an only child, a son, connects my heart with Our Lady's. When I think of how she must have felt during His final days, my heart breaks. I can only imagine how she protected her boy from the taunts of "bastard" whispered about Him. She must have wanted to shake those who misunderstood, criticized and ridiculed her perfect child. I certainly would have...Mary never would have. Perhaps, this is why many of her titles begin with, Lady.
As my son, Jared, grew, I shared my affection for the Blessed Mother of Fatima with him, always speaking of her great power of intercession. I think because I loved her, and he loved me...he loved her. I often reminded Jared that he should chat with her if he had a concern and to pray to her...she was always listening just like her Son.
Seven years ago, Jared struck out on his own...leaving NY and moving in with cousins in Florida. I felt as though there was a hole in my heart when he left.  It wasn't easy for him either, adjusting to a new lifestyle, being totally on his own, finding a job. When his cousins moved to another part of the state, he considered coming home, but didn't. He needed to see this through, he said. So in time, he got a job as a front desk clerk in a hotel, then became a front office manager, met Kelly, married, and bought a lovely home. The USA housing and job market took a hit, and Jared made his first mortgage payment...then lost his job. He was devastated. Kelly's job as a Realtor wasn't too solid either. Pray, pray, pray and hit the pavement was the advice his dad and I gave him. Don't lose faith.
Jared started attending Mass on Sundays. It gave him something to look forward to, he explained. And the months dragged on. Then one day, he and Kelly were at a mall, a mall mind you that they rarely shop at, and he bumped into a hotel manager he knew. Sean said he'd been thinking about Jared and planned to call him. Was he still out of work? If so, he needed a manager at another property...would Jared be interested? Interested! Jared nearly did a back flip. The new position was a step up from his previous one, better pay and the pick of the litter as far as properties go.
When Jared met Juliet, the then current manager, she told him she was moving to Bermuda to help with a family matter. She loved her staff, co-workers, that particular hotel, and found it hard to leave. She had been praying mightily to Our Lady of Fatima that the perfect person would come along and she'd be at ease about leaving. She took him into her office, and there was a statue of Our Lady of Fatima. Jared said he got goosebumps. He told Juliet that Our Blessed Mother had been listening to both of their prayers. They knew that Our Lady of Fatima had interceded and God was blessing them. It amazed him that God had to get him out of the first position to get him into a better position. God had never forsaken him. He had honored the fact that Jared regularly sought Him in the Eucharist and made time for prayer.
Each day, Jared asks the Blessed Mother of Fatima to put her blue mantle of protection around his hotel, its guests and staff....around his life and those in it.  We should do the same. Our Lady will intercede to the Holy Spirit asking Him to help us make good and godly decisions. Jared knows, we all should know, that the Queen of Heaven is a special lady who goes before the King of Kings--her Son Jesus Christ--and pleads for those who honor her and loves her Boy.