Time to Dance

I am pretty certain that nothing in my life is very unique or out of the ordinary. I am not saying that I am not unique, because of course, there is only one of me and I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I just have recognized that my days are filled with unremarkable lessons and expectations. There is a sweet freedom in knowing that my successes, failures, heartaches and celebrations are not particularly noteworthy. The fact that life seems to repeat itself connects us to one another. We are able to share joy, empathize and advise as we walk along side each other through shared experiences.

My husband walks more closely along side of me than anyone and recently he was wise enough to help me see that I was stuck in a pattern that I needed to break free from. I have been confused and broken over a situation outside of my home and outside of my control. Because of my confusion, I have obsessed over it. I have felt the need to understand something that I just cannot make sense of. I pray and cry about it. I think about it all the time and journal and want to talk about it. I engaged in yet another conversation about this with Pat the other day and he responded with this advice:

“Catherine, You have grieved over this for long enough. The time for grieving is over. It is time to move on.”

As risky as his instruction was, he was so right. There is a time to grieve, but I needed to recognize when to let the grief go. When heartbreak happens, we need to deal with it. We need to cry and be consoled and be quiet. We don’t have to shake it off, but the grieving season cannot go on forever. When we get sucked into all-consuming grief for too long, it is hard to climb out. I think we need to be purposeful about how we rise from the ruin. I also think the first step is to acknowledge that we have been in a grieving season. There is a time to cry, but there is also a time to dance. There are so many reasons to dance. I have to remind myself all the time of our instruction to rejoice. We rejoice because this is the day that the Lord has made. We rejoice when we go through trials and when we are disciplined. We rejoice because we woke up today and because God is on the throne. We rejoice because it is what we were created to do.

If this is your time to grieve, take the time. Grief time is healthy and important. Heartache, loss, and confusion are so common. You are not alone and just about everyone on the planet understands grief and pain. You are surrounded by people who get it, and you have the ear and affection of THE ONE who understands better than anyone and who can comfort you like no other. He cares about your tears and will be there to lead you when it is time to dance again.

 

To everything there is a season, 
A time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born,
 And a time to die; 
A time to plant,
 And a time to pluck what is planted;

A time to kill,
 And a time to heal; 
A time to break down,
 And a time to build up;

A time to weep,
 And a time to laugh; 
A time to mourn,
 And a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones,
 And a time to gather stones; 
A time to embrace,
 And a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to gain,
 And a time to lose; 
A time to keep,
 And a time to throw away;

A time to tear,
 And a time to sew;
 A time to keep silence,
 And a time to speak;

A time to love,
 And a time to hate; 
A time of war,
 And a time of peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (NKJV)