Time – it’s a commodity that no one ever has enough of. You can’t get it back. You can’t multiply it. You can’t make it do what you want – bend it how you want it bent. It’s something that is wished away quickly but then so desperately desired to have back.

I remember when my babies were newborns and all I did was wish away the time so that they would sleep through the night, be more independent, walk, and talk. Then they became toddlers and I wished they would be even more independent and wanted time to move so fast. Now N, is 10 and the realization hit that she has already spent over half of her time at home with me. If she moves out and goes to college at 18 like I did …. we are already over half way there. My baby, H, is starting Kindergarten in just a few weeks. My baby that is the only one to never leave my side (thanks to covid) will now be in school all day and no longer my partner in crime. T, my middle girl, is growing so unbelievably fast before our eyes as I watched her last night talking to people and inviting them to an event at the church. She knows no stranger -how is that when she used to be terrified of her own shadow.

And then I think about the young women they’re growing into and as desperately as I want them to be those little babies again, Im excited to see who they grow up to be.

Time is a precious commodity. In Ecclesiastes 3 it says,

To everything there is a season, 

and a time for every purpose under heaven:

2a time to be born and a time to die, 

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3a time to kill and a time to heal, 

a time to break down and a time to build,

4a time to weep and a time to laugh, 

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5a time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together, 

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

6a time to search and a time to count as lost, 

a time to keep and a time to discard,

7a time to tear and a time to mend, 

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8a time to love and a time to hate, 

a time for war and a time for peace.

There is a time for absolutely everything. Everything has its time and. it’s place as do you and I. We cannot go back. We cannot zoom forward, but we have the hope and joy in knowing that whatever season we are in will not last forever. If you’re in a season of celebrating – celebrate like it won’t end. If you’re in a season of mourning – just know that there is joy coming. it might not be today or tomorrow or next week, but it IS coming.

One commentary put it this way “To expect unchanging happiness in a changing world, must end in disappointment. To bring ourselves to our state in life, is our duty and wisdom in this world. God’s whole plan for the government of the world will be found altogether wise, just, and good. Then let us seize the favourable opportunity for every good purpose and work. The time to die is fast approaching. Thus labour and sorrow fill the world. This is given us, that we may always have something to do; none were sent into the world to be idle.” (biblestudytools.com)

Good things come to an end, but so do bad things. There is a time and a season for everything under the sun. Give it all to God and let Him move you through the course of the days and weeks and months and years. A friend sent me a text the other day and this is what it said “At first it seems impossible. Then it seems hard. Then it’s done.” Next thing you know you’re in the next season of your life. And it doesn’t matter what season you’re in – what matters is where your heart and your hope lie. If they lie in yourself, in this world, in the people around you – my friend, you’re going to be disappointed every single time. BUT if your hope lies in the Lord, you know this is a season, you’re working on figuring out what you’re supposed to learn in this moment and then move on – THEN you’ll be full of hope. The hard times will still be hard, but you know there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.