A Time to Embrace

I called Comer, my old senior friend, at the Home to see how he was doing and let him know we would go out again when I returned from our beach vacation. He sounded drugged when he answered the phone. His speech was slow and slurred.
"Hiyah Sugar," he said, "I'm not so good."
"You don't sound well," I said, "What is wrong?"
"Well, I collapsed yesterday, my body just gave out. I was on that cold hard floor for 3 hours before anyone found me. Spent the day in the hospital. All my vitals are good...I'm just terribly weak."
"Oh my," I cried, "I am so sorry! Do they know what is wrong?"
"It's just my time," he said, "My body is just worn out."

Later, my dear daughter-in-law, Karissa, came with me and Asherel on the dreaded summer nice clothes shopping jaunt for my nice-clothes-phobic teen. Karissa is a magician, and managed to find 4 shirts Asherel would agree, in theory, to wear to church. Then, we hit the real bonanza. I have been doing my Christmas shopping all year because if I buy things as I see them all year long, there is no major bill at Christmas, and much less of the stress. I have been stockpiling gifts for months. Anyway, my oldest son Anders is particularly difficult to shop for. He is 26 years old and never tells us what he wants. So I threaten him every year, "If you don't tell me, then you are getting cows." He loves cows, and so I am always on the prowl for cow related items. Well I found 4 different perfect, useful cow motif gifts at the same store we snagged 4 shirts for Asherel. While we were shopping, Matt had coffee with a law firm that sounds interested in hiring him right here in Charlotte. He was bursting with enthusiasm and hope when he came home. So were we, bursting with new shirts and cows.

It was, as it often is, a day of contrast. Old body of a life well-spent winding down, new young optimism looking forward to spending a life well. Sadness over serious issues, and laughter over whimsical cows.

There is indeed a time for every thing under heaven, a time to build, and a time to tear down; a time to reap and a time to sow; a time to be born and a time to die. And God makes all things beautiful in its time.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
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.

-save a dog- hollowcreekfarm.org