Beneath the Surface

Here we are again...day number 5! (:

 Today, is the starting mark for my 19th year of life. I must say, 19 feels strange, perhaps because it doesn't really feel like anything at all. It's not by far old, but not too young either. And the understanding that next few years will determine a great deal of the course I will take in life is somewhat intimidating. I realize  that this time is so incredibly crucial. Yet, it is not like I'm really starting anything new, nor am I crossing a finish line. I am somewhere in the middle in this race we call life.

There is a song that has touched me time and time again called, "Time in Between." In it, the artist speaks of how thankful she is for the time in between in life. That Jesus would come to the earth, not in glory, but in lowliness and would live each and every day until He was glorified. Jesus' birth was celebrated, there was that brief spat of time when we see him at age 12, then suddenly, a chapter later, he's 30 years old. It's strange to think Jesus was once 5, once 11, once 17, and once 23. That there was a year in Jesus' life called "19" just as there is for me. Every day, Jesus had to wake up and choose the Father's will. The Bible says He was tempted and tried just as we are, yet without sin. Jesus had to live every single one of those days out, in real time. Jesus had to walk though "the time in between."

The time in between makes all the difference. The time between conception and birth. The time between caterpillar and butterfly. Between young and old.

So often, we look at the starts and the finishes in life. We forget that it is the time in between that actually makes them worthwhile at all. It's the every day choices and the moments of decision. It's waking up every morning, being a person of character, living according to the Word of God. It's daily choosing to be the best Christian, mother, father, brother, sister, husband, wife, leader and friend we can be.

Perhaps you are a young person waiting on your future mate. Maybe you are working hard finish school. Maybe your waiting for your children to finally be able to take care of themselves. Regardless, we are all on a journey in some arena of our lives. I do not pretend to believe the time in between is easy. Surely it is one of the most frustrating places and is extremely uncomfortable. It feels pointless, tiring, stressful and crippling. It makes you feel antsy, restless and even annoyed. It's reminiscent of that tingling sensation when your foot falls asleep, and no matter how much you try to make the tingle stop, you keep feeling pricked, reminded that the experience is not yet over. Yet what I have come to realize is that the time in between is crucial. It's the ordinary days that make the extraoridinary days, well, extraordinary. It's the daily words spoken, thoughts pondered and decisions made that make all the difference. It's the time in between. And it's beautiful.