This summer my family took a vacation to Colorado. As a part of this trip we went white water
rafting. This year we were able to do a
Class III and IV rapids- FUN!!! This
means that trip was more intense at times, the water was serious and we had to
listen to our guide telling us what to do. This is us before the trip:
The guide gave us instructions; let us practice on some
smaller rapids, etc. But, he did
something that has stuck with me. After
every rapid that we crossed he had us turn around and look at what we had come
through. “That was a class II, next is a
class III, get ready.”
Each time while we were in the calm waters, he would have us
turn around and see the rapids that we accomplished together.
This has really changed me.
How I look upon my life, and how I do life with others.
Some of us are living in a class IV rapid, we are working so
hard to just move and get through that we can’t see much else.
Some of us are living in a class III, it takes work and
focus, but we can do this.
Some of us are living in a class II, it has some bumps and
some waves, but all and all it is smooth.
What I am realizing that the past 10ish years I have been
living in class II-IV rapids.
marriage, teaching, 1st home, miscarriages, babies, career changes, illness, moves, grad school, work
stress, family stress, etc.
All of these
times were full of amazing times, of tough times, and they were all hard work
and full of anxiety and stress, even in the joy.
I am at a point in my life where we are in the calm
waters. It feels weird. I feel like I need to splash, waiting for the
rapids to come again. I am getting used to the
calm. I am learning to be happy with
calm.
My dear friend said to me, “Kim you have everything you
wanted in life. Enjoy it. Stop searching for more and get a
hobby.”
He did not say that my life is perfect. He just pointed out that I now have what I
have been working for. I just need to
see it. I need to enjoy it. I need to STOP searching for more.
I am now stopping my, “What is next?” dialogue. I now will
enjoy my what is NOW. Guess what, I am
happy. J
Most of us have heard this passage below read at weddings, Ecclesiastes
3:1-8. But keep reading…this passage
talks about hard work in this timing (9-15) and enjoying what is in the PRESENT
that you have worked for (16-22). Read
it again, and see it in you life. See
that where you are is ok and know that you are not alone.
A season for
everything
3 There’s a season for everything
and
a time for every matter under the heavens:
2 a time for giving birth and a time for dying,
a
time for planting and a time for uprooting what was planted,
3 a time for killing and a time for healing,
a
time for tearing down and a time for building up,
4 a time for crying and a time for laughing,
a
time for mourning and a time for dancing,
5 a time for throwing stones and a time for gathering stones,
a
time for embracing and a time for avoiding embraces,
6 a time for searching and a time for losing,
a
time for keeping and a time for throwing away,
7 a time for tearing and a time for repairing,
a
time for keeping silent and a time for speaking,
8 a time for loving and a time for hating,
a
time for war and a time for peace.
Hard work
9 What do workers gain from all their hard work? 10 I
have observed the task that God has given human beings. 11 God has
made everything fitting in its time, but has also placed eternity in their
hearts, without enabling them to discover what God has done from beginning to
end. 12 I know that there’s nothing better for them but to enjoy
themselves and do what’s good while they live. 13 Moreover, this is
the gift of God: that all people should eat, drink, and enjoy the results of
their hard work. 14 I know that whatever God does will last
forever; it’s impossible to add to it or take away from it. God has done this
so that people are reverent before him.[a] 15 Whatever
happens has already happened, and whatever will happen has already happened
before. And God looks after what is driven away.[b]
Enjoy what you
do now
16 I saw something else under the sun: in the place of justice,
there was wickedness; and in the place of what was right, there was wickedness
again! 17 I thought to myself, God will judge both righteous and
wicked people, because there’s a time for every matter and every deed. 18 I
also thought, Where human beings are concerned, God tests them to show them
that they are but animals 19 because human beings and animals share
the same fate. One dies just like the other—both have the same life-breath.
Humans are no better off than animals because everything is pointless.
20 All go to the same place:all are from the dust;all return to
the dust.
21 Who knows if a
human being’s life-breath rises upward while an animal’s life-breath descends
into the earth? 22 So I perceived that there was nothing better for
human beings but to enjoy what they do because that’s what they’re allotted in
life. Who, really, is able to see what will happen in the future?
