Everything Has Its Time

To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: 
A time to be born, And a time to die; 
A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted; 
At 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; 
A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing; 
A time to gain, And a time to lose; 
A time to keep, And a time to throw away;  
A time to tear, And a time to sew; 
A time to keep silence, And a time to speak;
At time to love, And a time to hate; 
A time of war, And a time of peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1‭-‬8 NKJV


There is a time for everything, every purpose under Heaven. It is God's time. It is not our time. I believe we are called to recognize the times in our lives, to recognize the season we are in at any given moment. If we are unsure, we need to turn to God for that guidance.

In recent weeks, our family entered a new season, well, several seasons. It seems we may in a time to embrace, a time to gain and lose, and a time to cast away. One might ask how that is, to be in a number of seasons at the same time. One event in the life of our family has left us feeling a myriad of thoughts and emotions.
August 31, 2019 I get that dreaded phone call that no mother wants that tells her she needs to come because there has been an accident. Without giving the play by play, I say that Reid calls and tells me that he and his dad have wrecked in James' Mustang a few miles from the house and that it was at that point on fire.
Many of you may know that I don't handle stressful situations very well. I don't take the time to ask questions. I don't respond rationally. So, without saying much more to him other than I'm on my way, I hang up on him. I rush out the door with the 3 other young folks at my house and head to the scene, in pajamas and bare feet. I saw this as my time to embrace. I had to embrace my guys. Unfortunately, due to the impact of the crash, it was not their time to embrace due to some aches, but nonetheless, we rejoiced in the fact they both had walked away from this wreckage with very minor injuries. It was (and is) our time to not weep, but to dance, if only metaphorically speaking.
The car, on the other hand, is in a different season. It is a time to lose, to cast away. What began as an investment project many years ago turned into a fixture in the life of our family. The old 69 Mustang was revived in the early 90s, and then again earlier this year. In between, it served us well as a fun car that caught the eye of many or as a spare family car when needed. More times than not, it sat in the garage, under a cover, quiet, unnoticed. On that Saturday night, the Mustang spun out, left the roadway, and came to rest after slamming into a power pole at the center of the rear end. Soon after, flames appeared, but my guys were able to quickly exit the car without harm. It was their time to let go of the car.
Throughout the entire ordeal, James has had an overwhelming sense of peace. He has said that even in the moments right before impact, he felt peace. I believe it is his peace that has helped the rest of us handle the situation better. He has the peace that passes all understanding, the peace that only comes from God.
Now that peace has not prevented us from analyzing the event, and going over all of the "could've been's". In all of that analysis, we have recognized God's hand and God's timing in the ordeal. From who was in the car, to the turning of the car at the last moment, to the opening of the door that should've been jammed...God had His hand on them. It was their time to walk away. It was not my time to mourn.
In these last two weeks, my thoughts and emotions have been all over the place, but I say with certainty, my guys are here today for a purpose, for a new season. And we embrace it!