It’s Time

Sometimes when I read the Bible, I write about how it speaks to me….

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven — Verse 1 

I wonder what God’s iCal looks like? I am certain He has notifications turned off… I wonder if He uses color codes for all the events that have been planned and appointed under heaven – that means everything! I am glad to know this verse because it means even though I spend time planning parties, dinners, meetings, conferences, anniversaries – God has already appointed times for these events. 

WORK: There was an appointed time for me to start my business (August 2016) and for everything (my current contract and future business) that will come through my business by doing good works. Side note – while in graduate school I started a cupcake business (Hero Cupcakes) and a jewelry making business (The Cirlce Maker) and I secretly want to get into the college prep tutoring business.  These are all a piece of who I am – and who my Bigmoma was (she always had a business idea). 

Every little brown girl needs a Basic Black Bigmoma (BBB). 

A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. Verse 2 

Giving birth looks hard, I’ve not done it so I won’t speculate here. A time to die is a hard truth but  in surrendering to God’s will for our lives we have to accept what God allows. I have found in death that time does help and that the memories eventually are the things I cherish the most. I read the second half of this verse in a more practical way, in May I plant my flowers for the summer and in October I uproot what was planted. Once in my life though I had to uproot a close friend, it was time and God told me so in a dream so vivid that it gave me chills. 

WORK: This one is similar to Verse 1, an appointed time for everything work/career related. A time to uproot from work/career seems to becoming less complicated these days which I see as a good thing. New career fields are being created each year, especially in the scientific and engineering areas. My peers and subequent generations are not staying at the same job for 40 years. That is not a bad thing, it is just not our thing. I am so grateful that my education and training experiences allows me to expand my career and pursue new and challenging job opportunities with excitement. Change is inevitable and sometimes requires uprooting. 

A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up. Verse 3 

I beleive there is a time to kill, not murder with malice intent but to kill in self/family/country defense. If I didn’t I don’t think I would be very suitable for my current work within the Department of Defense. The older I get I need more ‘time to heal’ from moving boxes in my garage and after an intense workout session at the gym I have to sit in the sauna, take a vitamin I, and take an epson salt bath when I get home. A time to tear down and a time to build up makes me think of renovating homes and the famous show on HGTV with Chip and Joana Gaines. It is definately more pleasant in all thing that if I am tearing down I already have a plan to build up and that what I am building is going to be better than what was before. 

WORK: A career is built up one job, experience, paper, conference, brief, e-mail at a time. To say I have made a (short) career here at my current client’s office is to sum up everything that I have done for the past 5 years. I have spent many hours building up my career and my professional persona here. I am grateful that I have had work experiences that has been documentable such as making promotional videos, giving briefs on and off site, writing articles about the programs that I support, planning high profile events, attending high profile events, and many more. I do not have a Facebook profile but my picture has been featured on my client’s Facebook page for supporting a variety of science and technology programs. 

A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance. Verse 4 

I have learned as an adult that it is okay to cry, I was raised in a home where we only cried when we were given a valid reason. Discernment is a gift I have, if you have this gift you can always find something to laugh at or someone to laugh with. I don’t fancy myself a comedian at all, but I can be quippy and make others laugh if needed or I just feel the urge. There is always definately a time to mourn and a time to dance. I learned to love LeeAnn Womack because of her breakout hit “I Hope You Dance”. 

WORK: I don’t have much about work/career on this verse other than to say that I am addicted to podcast and will burst out in loud and inappropriate laughter at work at least 15 times a day.  

Here are the rest of the relevant verses for context: 

A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing. Verse 5 

A time to search and a time to give up what is lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away. Verse 6 

A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to speak. Verse 7 

A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace. Verse 8 

He has made everything appropriate in its time…He has also set eternity in their (man) heart. Verse 11 

Let us all REJOICE and DO GOOD in this lifetime. 

From dust we came and dust we shall return. 

It’s time to be HAPPY! 🙂 

Blessings, 

-Sophoria Westmoreland 

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Image by congerdesign from Pixabay