Jessie leaned toward the mirror, inspecting the crow’s feet beside her eyes that seemed to have cropped up overnight. She ran her fingers through her graying hair and sighed. It was time to face facts. She wasn’t young anymore. In fact, her 50th birthday was right around the corner.

            She usually loved birthdays, and celebrating a half century was certainly an achievement, but somehow her forties passed by in the blink of an eye, and now, with her two oldest in college and her youngest leaving for school in the fall, she longed for her younger days.

            A knock sounded on the bathroom door. “I’m heading out for work,” her husband Tom called.

            Jessie opened the door. There was Tom, handsome as ever. How was it fair that he seemed to mature with each passing year rather than age? The silver streaks at his temples only served to make him more attractive, more distinguished. She drew him into her arms. “Have a great day at work.”

            A quick peck on the lips, and Tom was gone. Sophie left for school nearly thirty minutes earlier, and this was the quietest time of the day. With the older two away at college, Jessie had the house to herself. What she wouldn’t have given for a few minutes of quiet ten or fifteen years ago. How had this happened so quickly?

            She headed downstairs and poured herself a cup of coffee. Pulling out her Bible, she opened it to the bookmark where she last left off in Ecclesiastes. She stopped in chapter 3.

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.”

            She was in a new season. No longer needed to wipe tears or bandage scraped knees. No longer a home-school teacher. No longer the chauffer to soccer practice, ballet, or gymnastics. What was this new season? She finished the chapter, but the first verse stayed in her mind as she went about her day. She put her coffee mug in the dishwasher and started a load of laundry, and it stayed on her mind. Even through the entire trip to the grocery store and the pharmacy, she couldn’t stop thinking about it. Once the groceries were put away, she took a few minutes at her computer to check her email, and found a message from the church prayer chain.

            Please pray God would lift up a new Christian education coordinator.

            Jessie’s soul filled with excitement. Before the kids were born, she loved teaching Sunday school. She filled that gap with teaching her own children. Homeschooling three kids up until high school gave her all the teaching time she desired. She’d pored over curriculum choices, and always included Biblical lessons between math, science, and history. Those were always her favorite lessons. Why had she never considered this position before? The answer was as clear as if God had spoken it aloud. It wasn’t the right season.

            “God, this could be the answer to my feelings of being unsettled. Is this your new purpose for me?” A peace in her heart told her it was. She went to the spare bedroom and pulled out a file box where she kept all her old Bible lessons. Perhaps it was time to dust them off. She lifted the cover and pulled out the first folder, opening it to a lesson she put together on Esther years ago. When she read the first words, a lump formed in her throat.

          “Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

            How readily God had answered her prayer. Could it be “such a time as this” for her? The church needed her in the area she was most gifted – working with children and designing Bible lessons. She picked up the phone to call the church office and tell them she was interested in volunteering for the position. Suddenly this new season no longer seemed like the beginning of winter. Perhaps it was the start of spring after all.

Ecclesiastes 3

 For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;  a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

God, thank you for giving us different seasons of life. No matter what season we are in, we can be used by You, even if it is something as seemingly simple as being a prayer warrior. Help us to be open to the opportunities You put in our lives to serve You. Help us to remember that even as we grow older and our bodies are not what they used to be, we are continuing to grow in wisdom. Please help us use that wisdom to make the choice to follow Your leading. In Jesus’ name, Amen.