There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: …a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance. – (Ecclesiastes 3:1 & 4, NIV)
There is a right time for everything, and everything on earth will happen at the right time. There is a time to cry and a time to laugh. There is a time to be sad and a time to dance with joy. – (Ecclesiastes 3:1 & 4, ERV)
There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth: …a time to cry and another to laugh, a right time to lament and another to cheer. – (Ecclesiastes 3:1 & 4, MSG)
Today is such a day, as I imagine there will be both laughter and tears, mourning and celebration, as we will gather to celebrate the life of a dear friend’s mom. She was kind and welcoming to all who entered her home, and her love for Jesus was infectious. Her love and laughter were shared generously, and the children she and her husband raised exemplify the same. The legacy of her life is reflected in her children and grandchildren. I am grateful that there is room to both cry and laugh, and to mourn and feel joy simultaneously. There is the hollow space that loss leaves behind, yet celebration in knowing that she is in her eternal home. We mourn in the waiting time in between yet give thanks in knowing that death is not the end, and loved ones will be reunited again one day. May we ever seek the Lord to be near in such spaces and pray that though there is grief in the loss, that there may also be laughter and joy in remembering the blessings beheld through the loving life the one we have lost.
All things have seasons,
Love, laughter and loss;
Yet in Christ, there’s good,
For He paid the cost.
His life was given,
So we too could live;
With Him in heaven,
Hope transformative.
Lord, help us rejoice,
In knowing what’s true;
Our time here is short,
Yet each day is new.
In You there is life,
For eternity;
Help us hold onto,
All that’s yet to be.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You that in You, we have life everlasting. Thank You that though we grieve losses now, we have hope in all that is yet to come. Thank You that when we know, love, and follow You, death is not the end. Forgive us for forgetting that we can both cry and laugh, grieve, and celebrate, in the same space and season. Teach us how to embrace the abundant grace You give and lead us to love those in seasons of loss as You do. May many come into a lasting relationship with You. Be glorified O God, as we praise You for Your presence in every season of our lives. Amen.
© Shannon Elizabeth Grabrick and Revelations in Writing, May 2011 – present
Summon Your power, God; show us Your strength, our God, as You have done before. – Psalm 68:28