A Time for Everything

I am 30 years old and don't live according to what society would deem fit for a woman my age. Teenage me would have thought I would be married by now, living in a beautiful cottage house with a wraparound porch, a garden to tend to, a few different animals to care for, and 2 children to raise. Funny how at such a young age, my mind thought I would have life all figured out by now. I dreamed of marrying my high school sweetheart and growing old together, ensuring to scrapbook our memories so there would be a trail of our love. Well... none of that happened. Instead, I am a single mother to an amazing son, I do not own a home or a garden, I have one dog named Elijah and I couldn't image having more animals, and the high school sweetheart...he passed away. We were not together when it happened, even though we both wanted to be, we just couldn't get past our differences. Now that he is gone, all the times we argued feels like stolen time we could have loved. Joy that never bloomed because pointless disagreements sprouted instead. My life is nothing like I imagined it would be. For a season, I couldn’t release the grip I had on the past. I clung tightly to what was: who I used to be, who I loved, the people and places I knew. And every time I looked back, I overlooked the blessings God was placing in my present. In those moments of distraction, I missed sacred time with my little boy, who was quietly growing right in front of me. My focus was survival. Working nonstop to ensure he never lacked. For the first three years of his life, I juggled two remote jobs, school, homemaking, and parenting...all on my own. It was the hardest, most exhausting stretch I’ve ever lived through. And yet... it’s still just him and me, and I’m deeply grateful that The Lord has sustained me through it all, giving me strength to keep going.

These days, I work just one job from home. I’m still in school, but now I learn slowly, absorbing each lesson instead of rushing toward a finish line. I still hope for multiple streams of income, growth and abundance, but I understand now that all things bloom in time.

So, I choose to focus on daily faithfulness. Small, intentional acts: cleaning our apartment, keeping our space cozy, teaching my son to cook and savor the food we prepare together, reading our bibles, communicating what we love, what we dislike, what brings us joy, what makes us sad; These moments may seem ordinary, but they are sacred. They shape our hearts, our motives, our thoughts, our actions, and most importantly our life story. They are, in their own way, an act of worship for all God has entrusted us to cultivate. I no longer worry about how long something is taking, or what timeframe I should have completed a goal, because in all seriousness, no one knows if they even have one more day, or hour, or minute on this earth. We all live arrogantly thinking, we are promised tomorrow. Here's a stormy weather reality check, we are not. Soloman who was blessed by the power of God to have wisdom and understand beyond measure, wrote in Ecclesiastes 3 about there being a time for everything.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 NLT

For everything there is a season,

a time for every activity under heaven.

A time to be born and a time to die.

A time to plant and a time to harvest.

A time to kill and a time to heal.

A time to tear down and a time to build up.

A time to cry and a time to laugh.

A time to grieve and a time to dance.

A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.

A time to embrace and a time to turn away.

A time to search and a time to quit searching.

A time to keep and a time to throw away.

A time to tear and a time to mend.

A time to be quiet and a time to speak.

A time to love and a time to hate.

A time for war and a time for peace.

So, today I encourage you to release the pressure this world pours down on us and instead embrace the grace of becoming. Becoming who God has always intended you to be. Mediate within yourself and ask, who am I? Why has God placed me here? Am I living in each small moment, or am I lost in the chaos of the day overlooking every moment he has given to me? By choosing presence over perfection, it is like planting a seed of faith and hope for more. Rejecting the constant lies shoved down our throats by the world and instead washing it out by drinking of the living water provided by Christ. Whether you are folding laundry, wiping tears, cooking a meal, or simply sitting in silence, understand those moments are so much more. There truly is a time for everything, and if God has entrusted me and you in this current season, let's tend to it with love, purpose, gentle care, and thoughtfulness in each day. My garden may not look how I imagined, but it is mine to care for, and in time, it will bloom in ways I never expected. The same stands with you, if you are currently living in a stormy, dry, or even a blossoming season, that season has a purpose to shape who you will be when walking into the next chapter of your life.

I live now believing there is no time to waste, that dreams delayed can still sprout if you tend to your garden appropriately. This is my season to rebuild, not rushed or manicured for the approval of others, but rooted in God's gentle design. I enjoy making my son breakfast, straightening the couch pillows, taking him to swim class, whispering prayers while washing the dishes or while he sleeps, because this is where peace resides, where pain is healed, and where love grows. The slow, faithful tending of what God has placed in my hands is not small. It is worship, it is healing. I may not have the cottage, the porch, the scrapbook of romantic memories, but I have something deeper. I have wisdom born from moments of heartache, love forged through loss, and a heart wide open to the unexpected interruptions that shape who I am and who I will become. The garden I tend now grows differently than I once imagined, but every blossom is proof of the hand of God orchestrating my life, teaching me to become the woman he has always destined me to be. I pray this blog has planted a seed of understanding, that if you decide to wake up each day and live in each moment, not worrying about the future but walking in present, that you too can see that even in the hardest most painful times, the presence of God can wrap you in peace, keep you in joy, and teach you in wisdom. Life will always be an unexpected journey with many seasons to endure. Some days are marked by clarity and progress; others feel clouded with fatigue or uncertainty. Yet even in the quiet, seemingly uneventful hours, I know I am being refined. The beauty of life isn’t found in having it all figured out in one day or even a few years, it’s found in the surrender, in the daily tending, in the trust that every season holds purpose. I am not behind; You are not behind; we are being prepared. And as Jesus walks through your garden, his power alone can turn any degraded soil into a pure watered holy ground. God bless you all, my love is with you.