Seasons

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

1There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under heaven:

2a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

4a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

6a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

 This past weekend was the first Nolan's Walk for Williams here in Plainfield (if you would like to still donate, you can until June 1st, http://www.williams-syndrome.org/nolans-walk-williams)  .  Brandon and I have spent the last 3 months knee deep in the planning for this event.  We had 119 registered, but we estimate over 200 showed up.  The forecast showed rain for the day with thunderstorms.  Not a drop hit the ground that day!  Countless people approached us during and after the event about how nice it was to just relax with family and friends while being encouraged.  The event was also featured in the Hendricks County Flyer, http://flyergroup.com/local/x377182983/Walk-brings-awareness-to-Williams-Syndrome, which helps raise awareness for Williams Syndrome even more.  I think it's safe to say we've been on a high reveling in God's grace and His goodness since the event....a time to heal, a time to laugh, a time to dance, a time to mend, and a time to speak.  We've often wondered what God's plan is for our family through Nolan, and I believe God wants us to be bold in loving and caring for other families, encouraging them, sharing in our weakness, because in our weakness His strength is so mighty.  I've often wondered what it would be like to be on this journey without the Lord and I imagine a hopeless, joyless, desperation that won't go away.  At the same time, doing the event for Brandon and I was a way for us to mend and to heal. We belong to another family...the Williams family.  All the other moms I met on Saturday...there's an unspoken admiration and comradere.  Each one of us knows how the other feels in every sense of being a mother....a time to heal, a time to laugh, a time to dance, a time to mend, and a time to speak.

We're given seasons here on this earth.  I hate winter.  I hate being cold, sickness, feeling trapped in the house, etc.  Yet in that season, I love Christmas!  And, after that season comes spring, where all things are restored from being cold, sad and frozen...things are reborn and new.  Life is like that.  We have periods of great rejoicing like this weekend, and we have periods of great sadness...a time to die, a time to weep, and a time to mourn.  Yesterday, a baby named Corbin (you can read about him here, http://ofkidsandcows.blogspot.com/), went home to be with Jesus.  Corbin, like Nolan, was born with Williams syndrome.  However, Corbin was born with a far more fragile heart than Nolan's.  This is a  fact that comes with a weighty reality that Nolan could have very easily had a heart like Corbin's.  Don't think I haven't thought in the last day why God would choose Nolan to stay here on the earth for now, and why He would choose to take Corbin home to be with Him.  I've also been brought back to the reality that every summer we have Nolan's heart checked.  With every check comes the possibility that Nolan's heart could be getting worse and could require open heart surgery.  

We are not promised a life free of turmoil, matter fact the Bible says in John 16:33, "In this life you will have trouble."  The verse doesn't end there either, "But take heart, I have overcome the world."  When I enter a season of weeping and mourning, I have to remember that Jesus overcame sin AND DEATH when he rose again.  This life will bring trouble, trials, sadness and grief, but at the same time, Jesus overcame all that...one day for those whose hope is in Him, we will be in heaven celebrating with baby Corbin.