Little bits of twigs, string, and mud all smooshed together to help our back porch lights become a housing community for our neighborhood birds wanting to start their families. We were delighted to see a new nest this year with three teensy eggs and two loving parents patiently caring for their new bundles of joy. It is so fun to watch. First the nest is built, then the parents are waiting and waiting, taking turns keeping their precious eggs warm and protected in the wind, rain and unexpected snow. Before long, tiny bald heads peep out over the top with their beaks wide open, anticipating Mom or Dad’s breakfast runs. I love watching them, but it seems to go by so quickly.

 I remember a couple of years back when Noah was turning 15. He had gone to the movies with some friends and Shawn and I were eating in the food court. My friend Mona walked by and was chatting with us for a minute, where of course I lamented how quickly time is flying by and I don’t want Noah to grow up and it’s all going to be over soon, blah blah blah. Then she shared words of wisdom with me, saying how it is normal and natural for things to grow. She said, “When baby birds grow up, they leave the nest. Wouldn’t it look so silly to see a nest full of grown up birds all stuffed in it?” It was a funny picture in my head, but it was words I haven’t forgotten. She was right. When the time comes, they leave the nest. It is the way it is supposed to be.

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven” – Ecclesiastes 3:1

Another wise woman, my mother-in-law, said how she has enjoyed every single part of her kids’ lives. She doesn’t mourn for the parts that are over, she embraces what is happening right now. And I think that can be true for all of us, with or without kids.

Whether you are a new parent, missing the days when you can sleep in, or one who just watched their last child graduate from high school. Whether you just retired from your job, or are moving a parent in to live with you. Sure, there were great parts about what we just finished, and we can be thankful and delightfully remember them. But there is something good right in front of you.

I don’t pretend to know everything. Some of you might be going through the toughest times of your lives right this moment. But I can tell you that there is something to embrace and be thankful for even then. During some of the toughest times of my life, I have found that’s when I find myself scooching closer and closer to God, and those are times I wouldn’t trade for anything. Learning to depend on Him, trust Him, and know Him better through time in Scripture and prayer have all been more of a blessing than I could have anticipated. He doesn’t waste anything.

During those really hard, icky times, there is always something we can learn. And there is always something we can give. A friend who works in Hospice shared with me this week how that is a struggle some of her patients go through. They wonder how God can use them and what purpose their lives can have while they are confined to their bed in a nursing home. She said it’s harder to accept, but that sometimes that purpose isn’t something for them, but for someone else.  The purpose might be that someone else sees how you can have joy even through suffering, and through that learn more about this Jesus that you are longing to see. If you have breath, you still have purpose.

Keep your eyes peeled and your hearts open to whatever God has for you in this day, in this moment.

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  – Ephesians 2:5