Middle Daughter and my grandsons are visiting from Switzerland, and we’re juggling schedules to create as much family time as possible in the limited days we have together. I am acutely aware of how precious our hours are. Though I want to hold on, time slips through my fingers without a backward glance. A song from my youth, drawn from the wisdom of Solomon plays in my head.

To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven Eccl 3:1 AMP

I’ve lived most of my life looking toward the future, somehow assuming there would always be more time, another chance for a do-over, opportunity for change, for what-I’ve-always-wished-for to arrive.

Perhaps it is the deaths of loved ones in the last year or two, or maybe it’s just the wisdom of aging, but I have a growing sense of the limitations of my life, and of those I care about.

And that we can only live in this one — this moment — this blink-of-an-eye moment.

No where else.

To learn to live in now, I am discovering the wisdom of knowing what time, what season I’m in.

And living fully into it, even when it is not what I expected or anticipated.

There is a time to build, and look toward the future.

And there is also a time to relax.

After a rigorous day on the ski slopes, my oldest Swiss grandson flopped into a chair and announced to his mom, “I’m chillaxing.”

His first day on the beach here, he carried that forward.

Relaxing and chilling out — chillaxing — resonates as a skill for me to acquire.

You’d think that after months of my semi-invalid life that I’d have that one down pat. But give me a day of normal energy and I’m zooming around like that little pink toy bunny with the drums.

But I am learning to chillax.

And I’m learning other ways of approaching life in order to live fully in the moment.

As an introvert, I’ve always enjoyed time alone.

But now I’m enjoying time together with others with whom I share love, or faith or interests.

We rarely know when the sun will set for the last time for us, or those we love, when we, or they, will dance on into eternity.

Let us make the most of the time.

What is your biggest challenge with time?

Is it easier for you to live in the Now, or do you find yourself backwards looking or future seeking?

Are you in a season you never expected?