Time to Cry and Dance

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under the sun. A time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to heal and a time to kill… a time to weep and a time to laugh;

A time to cry and a time to dance.

Last weekend right outside of Austin TX was dancin’ time for my friend David Gligor and his daughter Samantha. I did not get to attend the wedding or the party that followed but I would guess the celebration was very appropriately a large one.

But I would also guess it came with a few tears.

David and his wife Debbie lived life to the fullest. They both worked hard to further their careers and both of them enjoyed much success. But they also enjoyed each other. Although they lived in Houston, they spent most of their weekends on Lake Travis outside of Austin.

Not long after they married, David adopted Debbie’s daughter, Samantha. I’m not sure if David or Samantha knew how important their relationship would become. Certainly they had no idea that Debbie’s life would end at such a young age. When Debbie passed away after a short but valiant fight with cancer, Samantha had David to be there for her. And David had Samantha to be there for him. Thankfully they had each other during the most difficult days one can face. To say they bonded would be an understatement.

And I can tell you it was a very high moment in David’s life last weekend to have the honor of escorting his daughter to the marriage altar and to give her hand in marriage.

There is no doubt that Debbie was watching it all and smiling from heaven. And there is also no doubt with Lake Travis as the backdrop, David and Samantha were thinking of her as that wedding took place.

There is a time to cry and a time to dance.

Sometimes it is appropriate and normal to do both.