Seasons of Life

Over the weekend our dog of fourteen years, Frazier, became sick. We now face the possibility of having to "put him down." Yesterday I read a sign on highway 175 "Closing after 54 years of business." This evening The Marcella Project starts a new venture, Bible studies in wineries. Over Christmas my daughter got engaged. She's now in upstate NY starting her first college internship at The Green Toad, a small local bookstore.The older I get the more I understand Solomon's words in Ecclesiastes 3:1-13. I'm learning to accept, expect and embrace them. Life. There are seasons. How would we live if we truly got that? And what about Solomon's conclusion?"So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God."(Ecc. 3:13)What if that's what sustains us? In the middle of the roller coaster adventure it's having people who are dear to you, close by and a good day of work to do? It doesn't sound all that profound. But perhaps it is.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.What do people really get for all their hard work?I have seen the burden God has placed on us all.Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.So today we do life, the life God has laid out before us ... whatever it brings ... grateful for the gift of work, friends and oh yeah, food!