Laura Story Opens Up in New Book, “So Long, Normal”

“I gave up on my quest for normalcy a long time ago,” writes a Christian worship leader and recording artist. Laura’s Story in his new book, So long, normal: living and loving the free fall of faith (Thomas Nelson/W Publishing Group, July 13, 2021) Laura continues, “Surprisingly, I can say this without shame or regret.”

Not only was she terrible at trying to be normal, she confesses, but somewhere along the way she realized that “normal” was a vapor: “Every time it appeared within reach, I couldn’t grasp it.” The inability to reach it made her realize that if she achieved some semblance of normal, she might actually stoop, settle for something less. “But what if God designed me not to stoop, but to stretch and reach for the stars?” she asks. “Not that normal is bad, but why should you or I settle for normal when we were created for something so much greater?”

That’s the fundamental question that Story, who has written award-winning songs such as “Blessings” (which won a Grammy), “O Love of God” (which won a Dove Award) and Chris Tomlin’s “Indescribable” (which was featured on his award-winning Dove album, Arriving), explores seductively and transparently in So Long, Normal, his third book and a follow-up to his recent titles. popularWhen God Doesn’t Fix It and I Give Up.

As she says in her new book, the problem is that normal seems to offer us something solid to stand on. Normal promises stability. Yet people end up choosing “the servitude of normal over the promise of better things. Staying in normal for the sake of normal can be detrimental to the very purpose of your life!” Plus, it never holds up in tough times. Normal ultimately disappoints every person on the planet, because life never goes as planned.

“Each of us has something in our lives that has forced us to abandon the normalcy we imagined,” Story says. “Each of us has experienced unsolicited changes.” She and her husband, Martin, came face to face as newlyweds, when he—a former college athlete—was diagnosed with a crippling brain tumor that upended all their expectations for their future. The couple now recognizes that it was God’s way of calling them to step out in faith, leaving normalcy behind and instead saying hello to the unwavering life, vision, and mission He had set for them both. It’s a necessary two-part process that Story guides readers through in these pages.

As she explains, the only way anyone can know for sure whether they are holding the things they cherish in their rightful place is to sift through the sieve. This is how God teaches his children to stop seeking worldly attachments for security and satisfaction. This is how he helps them stop anchoring their hearts to their performance, or tying their identity to the successes and failures of those around them. “If we can trust that God is writing a bigger story,” encourages the working mother of four, “we may be able to move forward without definitive answers to life’s pains, trusting that in goodness and mercy he exposes every flaw in our foundation so that we can instead cling to what cannot be shaken: his everlasting faithfulness.”

Laura Story’s skillfully written book combines solid biblical insights like these with incredibly practical wisdom, her trademark humor, and plenty of anecdotes and illustrations aimed at discovering:

Why we yearn for normalcy

How our desire for normalcy affects our everyday lives

Why “Big Faith” Is Not the Answer

The Five Things Every Individual Must Say “Goodbye” To

Ways to Avoid Spiritual Identity Theft

What it means to live an “attached life”

How to find real community

Three Great Comforts and Three Gifts to Support Christians on Their Journey

The book also features candid interviews with people Story knows who have faced significant challenges to normalcy and seen God display His greatness by growing them in unexpected ways. And So Long, Normal concludes with a unique and engaging “It’s Your Turn” section, where readers can answer the interview questions for themselves and explore ways God may be working that they may not have recognized before.

“Here’s the good news of this book as a whole,” Story offers. “When life gets unstable, we don’t have to be shaken. We can be unshakable in a world that’s beyond our control. By gaining a vision of what it looks and feels like to be connected to God, readers of all ages and circumstances can find the faith to step out and embrace the unknown with the hope and expectation that only God makes possible.”

For those who are ready and willing to say, “Goodbye, normal,” they will be able to let go of the things they once leaned on that weren’t strong enough to sustain them. And they will discover what author Laura Story learns through her own journey: that with God, what feels like a free fall isn’t really a free fall, but the life of faith lived day by day.

Story is also releasing a new single to coincide with the book’s release. “Hello Unknown” (July 9, 2021, Fair Trade). She wrote both the book and the song in the midst of the global pandemic. She shares, “The song ‘Hello Unknown’ was born during the time of the Covid pandemic, when our world was under strict quarantine and the country was in social and political unrest, and everyone I knew was worried about everything. But the truth about change is this: in the displacement or even collapse of all that is familiar in life, we don’t have to wring our hands and be afraid.” The book and the single encourage the audience to embrace change as a part of life and to find security in their faith over the familiar so that they can enter into the glorious adventure that God is inviting them to undertake.

So Long, Normal: Living and Loving the Free Fall of Faith is available July 13, 2021 wherever books are sold. Learn more at solongnormal.com.

The post office Laura Story Opens Up in New Book, “So Long, Normal” first appeared on TCB.

Author: Jessie Clarks

Link to the source of the publication

( —)

BGospel Magazine FR