A Time to Be Born

At 10 a.m. the call that we'd been anxiously awaiting for weeks came in...my friend Cindy's daughter, who was very much like my own child was in labor. Since I was at church already, I struggled to calm the excitement. Then suddenly, panic set in as I realized that Cindy was in Memphis with her youngest daughter. More than 2 hours away from Amber, her first grandchild and the hospital. I quickly promised to go to the hospital and stay with Amber until Cindy and Courtney could get back from Memphis.

And so began the long day that was mostly spent pacing the waiting room, taking turns feeding Amber ice chips and calmly waiting on Addyson to enter our world. As friends and family gathered for this great event, nerves were on edge. We wiped tears as my daughter walked out of the hospital, hating she had to go back to school before the baby got here. We laughed as my snickers ice cream bar melted because my phone kept ringing while I was trying to eat it!

As the time grew nearer, the younger kids were reminded to speak quietly. Guitars came out as the roomful of teenagers gathered in a circle and began to sing praise and worship songs.

Hugs were exchanged as word came into the waiting room that the baby would be there within the hour. Another circle soon emerged, as we held hands and prayed for an easy birth for Amber and that Addyson would be a healthy newborn.

Then a mere 10 minutes before the baby arrived into the world, we received a gut wrenching phone call. A friend was at another hospital across town: her grandfather in the final stages of lung cancer had been given mere hours to live. It was a sobering thought as we all once again realized that today, the circle of life had effected us.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 are some of my favorite verses. The always seem to speak to my heart, especially at times (like tonight) when I want to ask "Why is this happening?"

1. There is a time for everything,
and everything on earth has its special season.
² There is a time to be born
and a time to die.
There is a time to plant
and a time to pull up plants.
³ There is a time to kill
and a time to heal.
There is a time to destroy
and a time to build.
⁴ There is a time to cry
and a time to laugh.
There is a time to be sad
and a time to dance.
⁵ There is a time to throw away stones
and a time to gather them.
There is a time to hug
and a time not to hug.
⁶ There is a time to look for something
and a time to stop looking for it.
There is a time to keep things
and a time to throw things away.
⁷ There is a time to tear apart
and a time to sew together.
There is a time to be silent
and a time to speak.
⁸ There is a time to love
and a time to hate.
There is a time for war
and a time for peace.

We do not always understand the path that God takes us down, or the events that take place along that path. But it is oh, so comforting to go back and read these verses in Ecclesiastes and come to realize that God DOES Understand! Everything happens for a reason...and it happens in its own time.