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August 29, 2011

Ya know, I almost said, “a few weeks ago” when in reality its really been more like “a few months ago” that I mentioned during morning announcements that we sped up the “circle of life” (as The Lion King- calls it) – at least for that week…(actually closer to 10 days-) Over those 10 days we had a couple wanting to talk to me about getting married at Oakwood Heights Community Church, another couple brought their really cute baby in to be baptized, we celebrated the confirmation of 5 young adults, another couple got married, and finally we mourned the passing of a long time-friend and supporter of OHCC.  

Somehow we were able to compress life into a 10 day overexposed snapshot- when in reality it was more like 80 years.. Surely life should feel more like 80 years than 10 days…but does it? A few hours ago we watching flowers bloom quickly and then we jumped right into the middle of a hundred degree summer… Just a few days ago we were shoveling 19,000 feet of snow (at least it felt like it- by the way- the Kmart parking lot mountains finally melted yesterday)…And within just a few seconds we will be back shoveling snow (Im afraid to use the 19,000 feet reference- so I will just say snow)

But this is the way life works- seasons cycle…
As Ecclesiastes tells u- just like the seasons, for there will always be:
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.. 

Pastors often use these words at funerals by saying something to the effect- if the seasons teach us anything, it is that death does not have the final word. As Christians we hold onto that truth- but it is also a reminder for those of us going thru the day to day challenges of life- especially these day to days- that life has an edd and flow to it, winter – whether we are talking about the weather or something within ourselves, or something happening to us- job loss, family problems, personal issues.., they all tend to come from time to time…but hold tight with the knowledge that just as winter arrived- so will the Spring…