turn, turn, turn...

The Byrds shared, with the world, Ecclesiastes 3.

To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)

There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)

And a time to every purpose, under Heaven

A time to be born, a time to die

A time to plant, a time to reap

A time to kill, a time to heal

A time to laugh, a time to weep

To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)

There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)

And a time to every purpose, under Heaven

A time to build up,a time to break down

A time to dance, a time to mourn

A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together

To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)

There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)

And a time to every purpose, under Heaven

A time of love, a time of hate

A time of war, a time of peace

A time you may embrace, a time to refrain from embracing

To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)

There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)

And a time to every purpose, under Heaven

A time to gain, a time to lose

A time to rend, a time to sew

A time for love, a time for hate

A time for peace, I swear it's not too late

What an incredible reminder of how up and down, and back and forth our lives are. But at the same time, a beautiful reminder that the God who made us, who chose us, and loves us more than we can imagine, never changes. He doesn't have seasons. We can have times where we laugh, cry, hate, and dance all at once, but our Lord remains the same. A Constant; an absolute Truth. I like being reminded of that.

My time right now is just a season, and Lord willing, at some point in time, something will change. We are all in different places right now...Danielle studying, getting ready to graduate/job hunting, Kitty working super hard in the middle of nursing school, Aly working and wanting to finish school, Amanda working and toying with the idea of continuing grad school, and me, working and trying to figure out where I need to go and what I need to be doing with this life.

I was reminded on Monday that God has a great plan for all of us. That He is making us all into who He wants us to be, to go where He wants us to go. That is refreshing to hear. Feeling stuck, burnt out, and having no direction seems to fall to the wayside when I hear that. Remembering that I am here, in this season, because the Almighty has me here, wrapped in a love that I will never comprehend, is a relief. Why am I fretting over this? His timing is perfect, He is perfect, and my own selfishness is what gets in the way. Knowing that He never changes, that He has a plan for me, and that He is making me into who He wants me to be is beautiful.

Psalm 51:12..."Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me."

One more thing...I read this today. It was a great reminder that even though there are times when I don't "feel" like Jesus loves me or that I love Him, or times when I doubt or that I don't trust Him, He never changes His affection for me. My heart is deceiving, and left alone, it ruins me...but Jesus has given me hope.

1 John 3:21-24

^"21Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God ²²and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. ²³And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. ²⁴Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us."

egd