There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven-
A time to give birth and a time to die;
A time to tear 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 embrace and a time to shun embracing.
A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to be silent and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate;
A time for war and a time for peace. 
He has made everything beautiful in its time.

I’m learning the art of living in the moment. What I mean by that is that I’m learning to let each moment be what it is.

If I feel joy, then I want to stay in that feeling, instead of worrying about what could possibly happen to take my joy away.

If there’s a happy moment in the midst of a relationship challenge, I want to enjoy it, rather than think, “wait a minute, I’m supposed to be mad.”

If I’m sad or hurt I want to stay there, rather than escape by turning to my old friend, anger. Better to admit that I’m hurting and let God speak to me there, than to become angry and stuff the pain.

Anger soon turns to bitterness.

I don’t even want to turn to my sense of humor. That’s my other go-to pain reliever. That’s not always a bad thing, but I’ve realized that I have a habit of avoiding pain like the plague.

The first time I remember doing that was when we had to put our dog to sleep in third grade. A friend was over and I didn’t feel okay to cry, so I laughed it off. I felt guilty about it and was really sad for a long time over the loss of this dog who had been with our family since before I was born, I think. I don’t know why I didn’t think crying was appropriate. Silly.

I’ve had a habit since then of pain avoidance.

I only remember one time when I was fully in the moment, when I couldn’t escape my sadness. That was the day of Summer Kempfer’s funeral. I’ve never cried so much in all my life. I would have loved to escape into laughter or even anger, but it was too overwhelming. I’m glad.

The bottom line is that I have a problem with feeling negative emotions (and sometimes good ones). A lot of things have been swept under the rug over the years, because either I didn’t want to risk exposing my pain or because I didn’t feel I was allowed to, for various reasons.

Healing doesn’t happen when things are hidden. You can’t move past something you won’t acknowledge. Emotions are God-given – yes, ALL of them. They tell us what’s going on in our inner man.

Happiness and joy make life sweet. They are opportunities to feel gratitude.

Pain and anger are red flags that let us know there’s something that needs to be addressed, in ourselves or in our relationships.

Sorrow lets us know that we have loved someone. Grief is a natural part of life.

We need to develop the ability to engage with God, and with friends and family, when we are overwhelmed with emotion. And express gratitude when we feel joy.

He has made everything beautiful in its time.