I have to be honest, the last few days have been a literal whirlwind in the landscape that is my life.

Between school holiday’s starting – which means I now have my four children at home, my eldest son doing a 14 hour day on his 2nd day of work placement, then attending a writer’s get-together on the weekend, amongst serving at Church and then child-minding some friends kids – it’s been a busy few days.

Then my son does another 10 hour stint of work placement to pack-down a show, and the next day, that same son has a surgery to extract seven teeth – yes! that was in fact SEVEN teeth in one go.

My heart starts beating a rapid, uneven beat and my anxiety levels are on an upward rise right about now.

But, it doesn’t stop yet, because then, whilst said son is home recovering, we have rehearsals for other events that my other children need to attend; they have catchups with groups of their friends and I have to drive them around to all of that, and then pick them up to bring them home again.

On top of all of that, I start back at work again after not working for two entire years. It’s only part-time – a few hours each weekday, so not too much, but it’s whilst I’m trying to keep ‘The Whole Living Hub’ moving along and gaining momentum and… truthfully, I’m a little bit overwhelmed.

I had a mini-panic moment this morning when I’d dropped all four of my children off to KidsFest (a wonderful annual event that is put on by Hillsong Church every September school holidays, for primary school aged kids). The three oldest (teenagers) were there to serve and help out, whilst the youngest (a pre-teen) was attending the event.

I was driving back towards home processing how the last few days had gone, pondering on all the busy-ness and things that we attended to and all the extra driving I was doing, and it finally all hit me and I started to cry. Big, loud, ugly crying (you know the kind I mean, right?!).

After a few moments of release, I took a deep breath and paused… then I cleaned myself up and carried on my way. I turned on my worship music and set my mind on Jesus.

I was reminded that He has it all under control. He knew this season was coming before I did. He knew that I would have everything that I needed to navigate through it and if I don’t feel equipped or capable in that moment, then I can trust that He does and is, and He can carry me through.

After thinking it through for a bit, I came to the conclusion that it was mostly unusual, unexpected kind of stuff that had be happening and that may be why I was feeling a little crazy.

There was nothing bad or wrong about what was going on, it was just not normal. It was extra to our usual routine and schedules, and it kind of threw me for a loop.

And then I thought a little harder, about the fact that I used to work full-time and still manage to be a mum, a wife, drive my people around wherever they needed to go, keep the house clean & tidy, and generally be organised.

So, I figured if I’ve done it before, with God’s help and guidance, I can do it again.

By the end of my drive, I was feeling a thousand times better about everything. I rested in the assurance that God’s got this. God has got me and it will all be okay. This is just my new normal now!

It will take time to adjust my routine and schedules to make going back to work easier, but it is possible and I can do it. And whenever unexpected or unusual things crop up, I can just take them to God, carry on in my stride and see them as part of my next new normal.

What is your ‘normal’ like? How do you respond to challenges and changes in your daily circumstances? Do you trust God for your tomorrows?