A Time For Everything

Last night, Colton and I were watching last week's DVR'd episode's of Dancing With the Stars and saw two of our favorite dancers, Julianne & Derek Hough. They're fabulous!! We especially liked the tribute to Footloose the dancers did and can't wait to see the new movie. I'm not sure they'll be able to top Kevin Bacon, but I'm excited to see this new version. Footloose has been one of my all time favorite movies and I can't help but watch it every time it comes on TV. Remember when we would all try to get our foot to turn completely around like the guy in the opening credits did. Well, maybe it was just me that tried that. :) But I know that I wasn't the only one that would rewind it to last dance scene over and over and over again. As soon as I'd hear Ren yell "Let's Dance" I'd crank up the TV as loud as it would go...still do when I'm watching or when I hear the song on the radio!! Just talking about it makes me want to go watch it now!


Who knew that such a fun movie would teach me a life lesson and a Bible verse that I would remember forever. I will never forget when Ren is trying to plea his case to the town about holding the dance and he gets all of their attention when he pulls out his Bible and starts to read from Ecclesiastes. Although my parents, grandparents, and early days at church taught me this scripture I will always call it my Ren verse because in my 8 year old mind that's who taught it to me. (Ren also taught me that David leaped & danced before the Lord! "What did David do? What did David do?)



Remember this...

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.


To me, this passage seems pretty easy to understand, but is still sometimes one of the hardest to remember. I've asked myself and others many times "What should I do? What should I do?" and had forgotten that the answer was right in front of me. Sometimes when things happen it's hard to get past the one emotion we're in the middle of to even see that there's another time just around the corner. My mom has said to me "Erin, it's ok to be sad. Go ahead and camp here for a while and do what you need to do, but only for a certain amount of time. You're going to have to pick up your tent and move to the next camp site." Dad says the same thing, "It's ok to be sad or mad or tired (you can fill in the blank with your own emotion), but you have to keep moving. Go to work, go to Zumba (except daddy called it Zumbabwe!), go see your friends, just keep moving." Then there's my amazing sis who says, "It's ok. We'll have the strength and faith you need until you get yours back." Wow, I hope you are all blessed with a family like that!


I'm writing this as a reminder to you all, but mostly to myself that another time is coming. Wherever you're at today or even in this minute just be there, but don't camp there when it's not one of the preferred campsites... healing, building, laughing, dancing (or Zumbaing), embracing, mending, loving...you get the picture.


So, even though I still feel a little stuck in my current place; today I'm working on moving to a new campsite. I know there will be bumps in the road along the way to that site as well, but I'm not worried. I have my family and friends walking & praying right beside me. In fact, I'm certain one or two of them will even carry my tent for me!! :)


One last note...THANK YOU to my family & friends (you know who you are!!) who drop everything in a moments notice to talk & pray with me while I'm in the middle of getting from one campsite to the other. Whether I'm sitting in my living room, at a ballgame, or in my car driving from here to there you will never know how much it means that you pick up your phone when you see that it's me. I love you and appreciate you and am ALWAYS here for you as well.







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.

And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God’s purpose is that people should fear him. What is happening now has happened before, and what will happen in the future has happened before, because God makes the same things happen over and over again.