A time for..... Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 3
A Time for Everything

1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.

Above I listed the verses from part of Ecclesiastes 3. This past week has been crazy as usual. And as I was talking to my mother and thinking over the events of the last couple months this section really came to my heart. I so often think of the next day, I wish for another time, I want to slow down and stop missing out on life and I think Solomon does a great job of putting it all in perspective here. God put eternity in our hearts so that we would long for Heaven. But I am not called to wish away each day but to be captive of each one and live as he would have me in this world. So as I went through the verses, different events from recent came to mind and I thought I would share!

v. 2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot
As I read through this I thought of how each day we have with the ones we love is a gift. In the past month I have seen one of my best friends give birth to a beautiful baby girl, Greysen. To see how happy she was and how in love she was reminded me of having Evie. The same week though I also saw one of my closest friends lose her baby girl just two days before her due date. The heart ache adn pain that was etched on her face and draped over her shoulders is undescribable. While I pray I never have to go through that in my life. I am quietly reminded by God that my child is not my own. My family is not my own. They are given to me during this lifetime. I have been given the grand responsibility of raising my child in Christ and his love but she is not mine! How often I take that for granted!

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance

A time to weep.. we hear alot of this right now in my household! Not weeping like complete sadness like it makes you think but more of a "look at me, im not getting what I want, do what i want now!" type of weeping. And that would be done by my beautifully strong willed daughter, Evie. She has been showing us what we call her strong side and not holding anything back. If she doesnt want her clothes changed into her pjs there will be a high pitched scream followed by the arching of the back and then a loud drawn out cry followed by silence because she has taken such a deep breath, then a repeat in the process!
Just the other day we went to my friends wedding shower and because Evie did not want to be picked up or have her muffin taken away she exerted her strong will. Picture this, a beautiful house full of women who are there to celebrate the beginning of a beauitful couple coming together in holy matrimony, soft chatter of women catching up and commenting on the yogurt parfaits that have been so neatly arranged on the silver platter at the end of the table and different decorations that are arranged so beautifully and artistically that they are practically calling out to you to touch them and try and figure out how in the world they were put together. Next picture my Evie bug strolling in, casing the joint and eyeing the food table. As she makes her way over she sees her target, Nani's banana nut muffins. She stands on her tippy toes and reaches her chubby little fingers up on the table and manages to pull down her prize. As she starts to pick away at her bounty I am in the background reminding her of her manners and having her through muffled bites say, "please" and "thank you". She starts to make her rounds which always consists of a few waves to people and either "hi" or "bye" no matter if we are not leaving or just entering. Then she wants to be picked up, then put down, then up, then down. The calm before the storm came when she wanted to eat the metal acorns that adorned the coffee table and was told addimently, "NO!". As my friend goes to pick her up she starts the melt down! She grabs her hair rips it out and along with it grabs her perfectly placed bow and throws it on the ground. She arches her back and screams bloody murder! The expected deep breath/silence come and then so does the loud wailing. You would have thought we had traveled half way across the world and were standing right at the wailing wall and we along with others were mourning the loss of someone! But no we were right smack dab in the middle of this quiet, quaint party filled with unsespecting, innocent guests. I took her to the bathroom and we had a "talk" and came out to apologize. As I come out I expect to see horrified looks but I am met with laughter! So as my daughter "wept" they "laughed". They found the whole thing comical! For many of the single women in the room I know their day will come when they are in my shoes and if I am lucky enough to experience their children's melt downs, ill sit in the corner, think of the "old days" and I too will laugh :) Needless to say, we BOTH took a 3 hour nap that day!

6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away

As I have written in the past couple posts I have been losing so many things. I have still to this day not found my watches. I find my self still looking at my naked wrist thinking "hair past a freckle" will magically tell me what time of day it is. I finally found my keys that lock my back closet and check at least 10x a day that they are in the usual spot. OCD? I think so! I am going to have to give up pretty soon and come to grips that I may have to buy another watch but until then I am holding out hope. As for keeping and throwing away. You can ask my husband I am what one would call a packrat. And not a horrible one but I hold onto small things for the "memories". You never know when you will again need the letter that your best friend wrote you in 3 grade, or the neckklace that you made in kindergarden that you were so sure you would wear when you were older or the shirt that once fit that you are sure will be back in style when your daughter gets older and it will be "cool" for her to have "authentic" clothing from the original era. You can ask anyone who has seen or held my purse or my "luggage" as I call it. I have everything. I believe some of this was brought on by motherhood but I could really go McGuyver on you and fix anything, anytime, any place with what is just in my purse. I have adopted the name "bag lady" at school because of my large purses filled with nick nacks that I positive will sometime come in handy to either jump start a car, save a life or get me out of sometime of unexpected difficult bind. I think its time to throw away alot of this, hold onto the memories and continue on with what Ive been given. Too often I think we get caught up in what we have, what we own, what we look like. But in 5 years, 10 years tops, its all gone. In the trash, rotting away. All that we based our identity is now wasting away. I think so often we get caught up in putting our identity in things of this world and that again is why we have eternity put in our hearts so that we can long for the LASTING things, not the wasting away material things that we hold on to. I fall victim to this often am have to be reminded by the Holy Spirit to put my priorities in place.

Even as I write this i look at my stories and get worn out. I again see the importance of a Sabbath, a day of rest, a time to enjoy all that the Lord has blessed us with. Yes work is something that has to be done. For many of us this is our mission field and it doesnt mean its easy but essential to our Christian walk. But I think while we are so caught up in this "work" that we are not resting in things that resonate in my soul and bring such deep satisfaction and appreciation for the Lord and all that he is and all that he has and will do. I get caught up in this so often. And so caught up in the here and now and the plans that must be completed. But I have to stop and think that He does not live or work by my time table and that "he makes everything beautiful in its time". So I can back off, understand that as I daily grown in a relationship with him he is preparing me through the ups and downs that either line up or dont with my plans, to be more like him and to bring glory to his kingdom.
I know this is long but I hope you can relate to some of my hectic/fun life and see that the Lord has called us to each time and place and has set us up in HIS plan and HIS time. Rejoice and rest in that fact!