A Time Away
“There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven: …
a time to mourn and a time to dance.”
From Hebrew literature (Ecclesiastes 3: 1, 6)
In 1999 my wife, our children, their spouses and my wife's brother experienced our first family vacation together. We went to the Outer Banks in North Carolina; then the kids were planning weddings, now they’ve been married for a decade; at that time my brother-in-law was in the beginning stages of dealing with grief and loss.
Soon we will have another family vacation. Every time some of us are together, I think back to that first family vacation where we were working through mourning moments, where we were trying to find a way to dance. The verse from Ecclesiastes is true, friend. Mourning does turn to dancing!
Throughout that week eleven years ago, we honored each other’s needs. There was time spent in reflection and there was also time spent in party-like celebration. The same might be true as we gather for this vacation. Now, the grievers may be my daughter and son-in-law. Their oldest starts kindergarten in just a few weeks and they may be grieving that their “little girl” is growing up too fast! We will have to tell stories of her early years and adventures. The rhythm of the mourning/dancing time will again be part of our vacation. The family will become stronger because we took some time together.
May your day have a sense of balance as life unfolds for you. Have a good day.
A prayer for today: God of vacation, thank you for the gift of family. Amen.
--Ben Keckler
07.28.10
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