A Time for Everything

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 ESV). The average American will spend six months siting at stoplights, eight months opening junk mail, one year looking for misplaced objects, two years unsuccessfully returning phone calls, four years doing housework, five years waiting in line, and six years eating! What a way to spend your life! I began thinking about the time today as I drove back from Nashville. There is nothing at all unusual with my being on that highway. We live just thirty minutes south of Nashville and often travel into the larger city. What was unusual about this drive was where I had been. I had just finished another blood treatment for my hemochromatosis at Vanderbilt Hospital. I am on a schedule that requires me to do this once every eight weeks. It has become a mere inconvenience now. After so many years of doctors, treatments, and “ologists” of various sorts I have come to recognize that it is just another part of the “seasons” of life. It has been nearly twenty years since I first discovered that I had this disease. There were some days early in the treatment that we were not sure how it would turn out. So, driving along, I became a bit nostalgic. How could nearly twenty years pass so quickly? Where did the time go? I have learned much during these years. My hope is to have passed that knowledge on to my children and others along the way. They have given much to me. I hope that I have given as much as I have received. I found the following poem recently and thought I’d pass it on today: When as a child I laughed and wept, time crept. When as a youth I dreamed and talked, time walked. When I became a full-grown man, time ran. And later as I older grew, time flew. Soon I shall find while traveling on, time gone. Perhaps you should think on the time that you have left to do and say all those things that need to be done and said to your children. I am so thankful for each of my sons. I miss them when I am away from them. Whether yours are young or old, take a few moments and celebrate with them their growth. Even when they may have done better (we all could have done better), or when they could have done more (we all could have done more), or even when you disagreed (we are, after all very different), tell them of your love and confidence in who they are. Bless them today with a kind word and a loving gesture. You will get more than you give. There is a time for everything. Perhaps its time for this today!