By Tina Teng-Henson

I love Ecclesiastes 3. We had it read at our wedding, 13 years ago. I still resonate deeply with its wise words. I find myself returning to it again and again these days, eager to let it form and shape me. 

In the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, it says that  God has made everything “suitable” for its time. The NIV says he has made everything “beautiful” in its time. I prefer the diction of the NRSVUE. Because not everything is beautiful. But so many things I realize, are, indeed, suitable. “This works. That’ll do. We’re getting life done, and it’s good enough. Check.” I love beauty, but sometimes there’s not time for tweaking every last detail. Suitable works for me. 

But more generally speaking, it’s the broad affirmation and assertion within Ecclesiastes 3 that I am drawn to: this powerful concept that “for everything, there is a season.” There are times for the pleasant, sweet, wonderful things of life – like birth and gardening and embracing.

But, there unfortunately is also death and plucking up and refraining from embracing. Several friends are considering divorce, and finding that out takes a bit of an emotional toll on me. 

I need to carve out time, space and place for all the annoying, difficult, and hard things of life. 

“I love love!” my son Peter used to say, adorably, when he was little. My daughter Teresa somehow said the same thing, spontaneously. These little cherubs of children! We love “a time for love.”

But who needs or wants “a time for war.” Seriously, who wants war in the Middle East, again? After all these years?! My friend from volleyball had airplane tickets booked for his family of 4 to go visit his sister in Egypt this Christmas. HE doesn’t want to lose $11,000! But war isn’t covered by travel insurance! Argh.   

Last week, I started a new job. It’s fantastic, and my dream job. My super-fun boss designed it for me, with me in mind, over the past 10 months of discernment. This community and this particular role are such gifts from God – and I want to stay here and serve for the next twenty years! 

But let’s not fool ourselves. I’m a mother of three elementary aged children at a parent participation school that takes volunteerism to its zenith. And I live 30 minutes away! 

So, I constantly find myself managing underlying anxiety. My concern is that there is no time for everything.  There’s my desire to be Everything My Husband Wants Me To Be on the home front – The Best Mom Ever for my children… a Lifelong Friend to all my people… and a Trustworthy Pastor Who Hears Rightly From God and wasn’t a huge hiring mistake!

I have generally had this tendency to rush about, doing Everything Everywhere All At Once. [Which, incidentally, may now be my favorite movie of all time! I loved it. It felt like my life, my brain, part of our Asian American immigrant heritage – and life on planet earth.] 

So I can worry that I’m doing too much, made a bad decision, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

But then the Lord whispers to me, reassuringly, every single time. God beckons to my heart, quietly, as I do all the things I need to do. He’s so good at prompting me to slow down and pause. To take a deep breath. To stretch. To breathe. To deeply inhale and notice. “Hey, things are going well. This is a wonderful job. I’m doing great at home. I love my husband and my kids are well-cared for. I’m actually okay!” 

Deep within me, I know: there IS time. For everything. 

Tina Teng-Henson is now the Discipleship Pastor for Peninsula Covenant Church. She recently completed Spiritual Direction training and loves to write when opportunities avail themselves. She and her husband John have three energetic children, two cats, and a lovely backyard in Santa Clara, CA. Come visit!