You are the right person for today.
One of my favorite places on this beautiful planet is an outdoor living history museum in western Massachusetts called Old Sturbridge Village. It depicts a rural New England town of the 1830s with dozens of original buildings laid out over 200 acres. Visitors journey through the village and observe historians, in authentic 19th-century attire, work and live as they would have in the 1830s.
I fully admit that I geek out when I'm there and try to imagine "colonial Kelly," who, I imagine, would have longer hair and more domestic skills. When I visit the country store, I spend an unsettling amount of time choosing which fabric pattern woven by old Mrs. Hinkle Winkle I would purchase for my Christmas dress if I made dresses or knew how to sew… I gush over the pea-colored hand-dyed wool yarn and tell everyone chartreuse is my favorite color; no one cares, but I tell them anyway. I smell all the soaps wrapped in parchment in the gift shop, deciding which scent would be the colonial "me." And, I pour over the selection of books on the ample shelves settling on titles like American Frugal Housewife, written by Mrs. Child in 1833, because solid wisdom transcends any age, and now I have everything I would ever need to know about preparing and cooking a calf's head.
I love stepping into the simplicity and warmth of early 19th-century homes. I love how the wide wooden floor beams creak beneath my feet as I beeline to the hearth, where the woman of the house prepares a meal on a long table before a roaring fire. The room always smells of herbs and sausage, fricasseed chicken, and caraway cakes. I admire the forethought and preparation needed to cook for a hungry family day after day in this way.
I could go on and on about Old Sturbridge Village, but I won't. I will simply tie this memoir in a bow with great admiration for the colonial generations before us. They labored and toiled, building a country, community by community, from the soil up. Indeed, hindsight allows us to see those individuals with God-given talents, like Mrs. Child, who helped housewives find economical ways to make wages last longer, to survive long New England winters, and to find joy in the midst of it. They were the right people for the right time.
As much as I have romantic ideas of living back in the 1830s and making shortcakes on a colonial farm, God wanted me for a different time. You and me — He chose us for today. It isn't by some cosmic accident that our hearts beat while the world rages in the chaos of a culture that denies God's design for life and love—the dignity of the human person, the sanctity of life, the genius of our God-given gender, sacramental marriage… God fashioned us together, breathed life into our souls, and set us forth into the present with purpose. His timing is perfect, and He timed us for now.
This Sunday’s readings remind us that we must be alert and ready for we don’t know the hour or the day when we will stand before our Lord and account for our time…our love…our soul. Daily, we are called to pick up our Cross and toil onward in whatever role the Lord has called us to—a mother, father, wife, husband, coworker, educator, politician, priest, sister, brother, friend.
Today, pray over God’s purpose for you is in this season of life. Ask Him how He desires you to be a conduit of His grace, mercy, and love—especially in your marriage and parenthood. God desires you to flourish not despite the season but because of it. We must be open to His grace and allow it to restore our hearts so that we may face each day as the man or woman He created us to be. Let us pray that as we labor in our many roles to help build the Kingdom of God, we do so with the confidence of God's perfect timing.
You are the right person for today.
