There is an appointed time for everything.
And there is a time for every matter under heaven—

A time to give birth and a time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.

A time to weep and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance.

–Ecclesiastes 3:1-2, 4 NASB

These verses seem to summarize our lives over the past couple of weeks. Let me take you with us on our most recent journey…

We left for a multi-leg trip, beginning in St. Louis to see my husband’s family…they surprised me by taking me to the Polish Pottery Shop in St. Charles (it’s an addiction)…a time to laugh!

After a night we left St. Louis and drove to Kansas City to visit dear friends and a supporting church to present what we do…a time to plant.

Then we performed the wedding of a wonderful couple we’ve come to love in Kansas City…a time to dance!

But the pièce de résistance was driving to Oklahoma City so that we could meet our newest granddaughter, Isla Rose…a time to give (celebrate) birth.

When we stopped to buy flowers and candy for her mama, we got a call that my mama had passed away in her sleep…a time to die.

Holding Baby Isla and mourning the loss of my mom…so many emotions all at once.

The memorial service was last Saturday and all six of our kids came home to celebrate together. We laughed and cried, held babies, and told stories. My mom would have been delighted at seeing her house filled with so much energy. The last of the kids left today. Silence fills the toy-ridden house where grandbabies laughed and cried and danced and pouted–all within a few moments of each other. The time for mourning is complete and has just begun.

The Anglican clergyman, William Gurnall, mused, “Hope fills the afflicted soul with such inward joy and consolation, that it can laugh while tears are in the eye, sigh and sing all in a breath: it is called “the rejoicing of hope.’”

In my current “appointed time,” I am feeling whatever comes my way, knowing that a good God sees and knows and cares. He is not overwhelmed by my laughter with tears, and He delights when I hope in Him to make all things right in His time.

ACTON: What is your appointed time right now? Are you experiencing life as a stew of emotions? Where do laughter and tears intersect for you?

If you’re feeling nostalgic, check out this old tune:

And if you just need to forget the world and laugh a little, try this Dry Bar Comedy site.