Freezing Time

Have you ever had a moment you wished could last forever? A moment that couldn’t be better even if you had planned it yourself? A day or even afternoon, you wanted time to stand still?

I know I can think of a few. Like the time our entire family, flew in from all parts of the country, to celebrate Christmas together. Or more recently, when I spent a slow afternoon, sitting outside in Tuscany with Tony, finishing a bottle of Chianti Classico. Such moments are never long enough.

How about a season of your life? Have you ever had a particularly wonderful month or year that made you feel full? That felt as if life was exactly the way it should be?

In 2009, I went to India and Chile with my job. I climbed a mountain, and felt fulfillment in my career. Oh, and I started dating Tony. It was an incredible year.

I don’t know about you, but in those times, if I had the power to freeze time, I probably would. I would hunker down and get comfortable. Or, if I was that powerful, I’d create my own version of the movie Ground Hog day—only I would live my best moments, days, or seasons over and over. I’d savor each second like putting my favorite song on repeat. I’d do all of this because in my mind, it would make life perfect.

Only it wouldn’t.

Just as I can get sick of my favorite song after I listen to it too much, even the good seasons would get old. They’d stop making me feel good, and I’d start to get bored. Worse, by freezing time, I would also miss all of the other incredible moments in my life that were yet to come.

For example, if I froze time my first year of ministry, I would never have met some incredible students, a few of my closest friends—or my husband. If I froze time, the year Tony and I started dating, I would never know how awesome marriage could be—or how exciting it has been to start writing.

Life was never meant to stand still.

Its very definition requires movement, requires change. The fact that it involves birth, means it must also make room for death. And I am not just talking about life’s beginning and end. Rather, life is a series of births and deaths—both within and around us. Every time something new begins, something else ends. It becomes the past to make room for the present.

Life involves change. Living life means opening ourselves up to all of the pain and joy that change brings. For many of us, this is scary. Life is hard. And so who can blame us, if we just want to live inside the good moments—if we just want to freeze time?

Only, to freeze time would be to stop living. To put off all of the grueling moments, would also be to miss out on all of the good ones to come. Here is the hard truth about life and change:

We can’t avoid it.

So our best response is to embrace it with all that we have within us. It will take courage. It will require all the strength God gives us. It will mean holding on to all that we know to be true—when nothing feels firm beneath us. And it will mean letting go of things we love, to make room for the unknown. But don’t forget, all of this living, and all of this change, means