Mindy Lee Hopman

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven… Ecc. 3:1 (ESV)

Savoring moments in the daily routine, yet looking forward to a bright future is living in the tension of the bittersweet.

The deep feeling of excitement mixed with sadness is not one you can describe.  Yet it’s where we are living these days.

It’s the contentment with the comfortable, the well-known, the friendships which have grown over the years – yet the excitement of the unknown of what’s to come.

In the tension you know there is something happening which is so much more than what you can see.

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.  Colossians 1:16

And all you can do is continue to give 100% so you may “Finish Strong” – to pass the baton in this leg of the race.

This uniquely marked race we call life is our marathon.

• We prepare for the next leg by holding tight to the Hope we know lies ahead.

• We pray for the invisible to begin to become visible.

• We rest in knowing His ways are better than ours.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your way and my thoughts than your thoughts.  Isaiah 55:8-9

Bittersweet tension is when you are living your life fully each day, and in your heart you know there is so much more to come.

It’s the senior who is ready to graduate, yet scared and excited about the next step.

It’s the parent who has a child getting ready to graduate, yet wants to hold on tighter before letting go.

It’s the joy felt during the month your husband is at home in the middle of his year of deployment.

It’s the patience in the journey as you are traveling to the destination.

Bittersweet tension is the process of moving from the storm to the the rainbow.

It’s when you come to realize all things are beautiful in His perfect timing.

Sometimes we feel it more intensely as we move through different phases in life… but really, bittersweet tension is life.

Bittersweet tension is when One lays down His life for all others, so that one day we may all be gloriously reunited. (John 3:16)

Are you living fully in the tension of the bittersweet?

If you feel it, embrace it.  It’s a beautiful place to be, and I am grateful.