Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: FINISH (05/26/16)
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TITLE: Reflection | Previous Challenge Entry
By GiGi Mezzio
06/01/16 -
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“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity
under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1) NIV
I had heard this many times during my youth, but never actually
stopped to consider this wisdom. I was too busy chasing my dreams,
as many others did in the 70’s and 80’s.
I wondered how many sixteen-year-old dreams ever pan out twenty,
thirty,or forty years down the road. Somehow, over time, they are
forgotten. Time marches on and I felt myself wanting to slow
down the pace. Each progressive decade loomed ominously before me.
One evening, my daughter, Noelle, and I were getting dressed
together in a hotel room. We both had a tiring day antique shopping.
Looking for that perfect tea cup had become a fruitless quest and we
were exhausted. As we stood in front of the mirror, putting on our
makeup, I looked at her face. I could tell she was tired, but with a
minimal amount of cosmetics, she looked vibrantly beautiful and
young. Frowning at my own aging face in the mirror, I felt
hopeless. I knew that even if I painted my face like a geisha, I
could never recapture the way I once looked. No, the face I now saw
in the mirror looked shockingly more like my mother’s every day.
“What?” Noelle asked, catching my gaze.
“ I was thinking about how gorgeous you look, “ I confessed.
“And how antiquated I look, “ I thought with despair.
I felt sandwiched between unrealized dreams , with the fading bloom
of youth and the dirge of deterioration. I wandered aimlessly
through both realities, yet embraced neither one. I was stubbornly
unsure of who I was becoming, and more terrified at finding out. How
could I “go toward my passion,” as my small group leader encouraged
me? She prodded me to go from life’s struggles to immense success
and life transformation. But how at my age?
During dinner, while my daughter and I planned our final
antiquing excursion, I pondered the puzzle of life, wondering at it’s
complexity. I examined my life’s sorrows and celebrations, tears and
laughter, successes and failures, births and deaths, and found them
to be meaningless.
Late that night, after reading and re-reading the book of
Ecclesiastes, the shades were lifted from my eyes, revealing nuggets
of wisdom. I searched to find meaning and purpose in life, praying
for a closer relationship with God, believing that He would bless me.
“On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of
the night. Because you are my help.” (Psalms 63:6-7) NIV
The next morning, I awoke feeling immediately refreshed. Again,
Noelle and I stood in front of the mirror getting ready to finish up
our tea cup pursuit. This time I smiled at my reflection, and seeing
His loving eyes wink at me over my shoulder, I knew that the best
was yet to come.
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