The Circle

For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak. –Ecclesiastes 3:1-4, 7

I did something unusual yesterday. My family and I attended a funeral in the morning where we were privileged to celebrate the long life of an amazing man-my husband’s grandpa. It was amazing to see the line of people, the full pews, all there to see him one last time. He’d obviously touched quite a few lives in his time here on earth.

The other thing I did yesterday was on my own. I had the opportunity to visit my dear friend
in the hospital just hours after the birth of her fifth child (their second girl). We’d all been praying hard for her as she’s had lots of health issues this time around and was being induced.

The amazing thing about all of this to me is that as I was saying goodbye and celebrating the life of an amazing man, I was soon introduced to a beautiful little girl just starting out here on earth. I saw the complete circle all in one great day.

There were tears and laughs and smiles at both celebrations but they meant different things. At the funeral, there were tears of joy and sorrow, there were laughs and smiles as people reconnected and remembered good times with Grandpa. At the birth, all the tears, the laughs, and the smiles were happy. They were in anticipation of all that is to come for this new life.

As I drove home from the hospital last night, I thanked God for protecting my friend and her baby and then wondered aloud what I would write about this morning. And God pointed me to Ecclesiastes and the interesting parallel between those first two verses and my current location on my life’s path. It’s just so remarkable to me that this great book written thousands of years ago is still relevant in the here and now. Yesterday, I celebrated a time to be born and a time to die all
in one day. And tomorrow? Well, who knows? That’s one of the fun things about life! To quote the great Forrest Gump, “…you never know what you’re gonna get.”