A Time for Everything

One girl sits during her lunch break, dreaming of her prince charming.

Another plays with Barbies in the dollhouse made by her grandpa.

One gets a manicure and then meets her friends for lunch and shopping.

One watches television while she counts her unborn baby's heartrate.

Another takes a quick nap before her last prenatal appointment.

Another holds her precious newborn in her arms and stares at her perfect features.

Another wakes up at 3am to the sound of her baby's cries and comforts him with her touch.

Another throws her arms up in desperation, counting down the hours until bedtime.

Another woman drops her kids off at Grandma's so she can get a pedicure. Her first one in ten years.

Another woman attends her son's high school orientation.

Another woman watches her husband walk their little girl down the aisle.

One woman plays with her grandson and his blocks, glad to give her daughter a break.

Another woman listens to the silence of her house, anxious for her grandchildren's arrival.

And yet another woman watches The Daily Show and plans her day of cleaning and doing laundry.

These women represent the many seasons we all go through. The short, short seasons of our lives. It's easy to look ahead or backward and long for the simplicity, quiet or peace that seems to be on the other side. But the truth is that these are merely seasons. They are not meant to last forever. Some are short, some seem long. They all, however, take time and need to be experienced before the next one arrives.

Consider the passage from Ecclesiastes 3 (The New International Version)
1    There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
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 from embracing,
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 do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their 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 people will fear him.

I love that 11th verse: "He has made everything beautiful in its time." It's nice to know we are a work in progress. And that the ultimate result is glorious.

So if you're having a bad day, be encouraged. Tomorrow is another day.
If you're having a really good day, be encouraged. God has many more beautiful days ahead!

In His time.