Times and Seasons

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 scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
A time to search and a time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace. Ecc. 3:1-8

I found myself drawn to Ecclesiastes so often. I have never claimed to be normal, whatever that is, and this certainly solidifies that notion. While other people memorize, scour, read and meditate on lofty passages of scripture I find myself returning over and over to this book. For years now. I think in part because it always puts my life into perspective. This life is fleeting, everything that we do has already been done, there is nothing new under the sun. Nothing takes God by surprise! Heartache, sorrow, joy, laughter....the cycle of life. He created it and put it into motion! I found myself looking through this passage since Madeline's death. There is such a beautiful eb and flow to these verses. Not necessarily eloquent but a beautiful rhythm.

There truly is a time for everything! I watch my children and I think there is something so poignant about Jesus' words regarding children. Multiple times he talks about their child-like faith. Think about how our children trust us completely to meet their needs, care for them, love them, etc. How different life would be if we truly did live with a child-like faith and didn't question experiences and hardships as much. Instead lovingly looked to our Father with complete, unwavering trust.

So today we are focusing on celebrating life! Shane's life to be exact! He has reached his 8th birthday which requires much festivities and dancing! It started out great with a 2 hour delay. This allowed me extra time to make his birthday breakfast (pancakes and bacon) and time for him to open presents! We had to postpone his lunch date since we didn't have a sitter and now it looks like we may have to postpone it again due to yucky weather on Friday. We keep it pretty simple around here at birthdays: they pick out their breakfast, get a lunch date with mom and dad, pick out their birthday dinner and celebrate with cake and ice cream! We usually get a bunch of helium balloons for everyone and I think that is actually their favorite part. We have only done one or two birthday parties ever since we have our own built in party central! One of the advantages of a slightly bigger family! We are a living, breathing, chaotic party! And we wouldn't have it any other way!