May Days

As we inch closer to the official beginning of Spring and all of the new growth that comes with it, I can't help but reflect on the Mays that have gone by and what they have meant to me.

In May of 2001 Ryan and I began falling in love. As we finished our final year of high school, I began to admit to myself that we were more than just locker buddies and softball/baseball bus ride friends. On May 29 of that year, he held my hand as we graduated from high school and I can honestly say that in that moment, I had no idea what May ten years from then would hold.

For the first four years after we got married, we took a trip each May to Michigan's wine country, going both to southwest MI and Northern MI between those four years. Sometimes with friends, most years just the two of us but those trips always marked the beginning of summertime and a great chance to just get away for a few days.

In May of 2008 and 2009 there were periods of grief and sorrow deeper than we had known as we experienced the losses of our precious little niece and nephew, Grace and Kaden, and watched my sister-in-law and her sweet little family grieve in a way that gave so much credit to God's story.

In May of 2010 we journeyed across the globe to walk the paths and hills that Jesus walked with his disciples. We were blown away by the depth of the story and what the Bible meant to us after that experience. I am particularly thankful for the May of last year because it marks something really sacred in our marriage and in each of our faith journeys.

Later that month, on May 26, 2010, our pastor and friend Larry was hit by a van on a road where he rode his bike daily. Another example of God's provision as the kindle and the macbook in his backpack literally saved his life. Very fitting for someone who loves technology like Ryan does. The end of May had a different tone as we wondered and prayed with the rest of our church community what this meant for Larry and for Evergreen. Amazingly, less than a year later, he was able to return to his place leading our church. This has been a very impactful part of our journey at Evergreen and in our friendship with their family as we have watched them struggle well.

And now as we anticipate this May, I can't help but reflect on God's perfect timing in our lives, to entrust us with a new life to care for and to love. Deuteronomy 6 keeps coming to my mind when I think about the gift that this child is:

4 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

I love this entire passage but that portion especially speaks to me when I think about the opportunity we have to love this baby well by showing them our faith day in and day out. When we talked about starting a family there was so much of me that wanted to plan and yet knew that this was completely out of my hands. And here we are, two months away from another May day that will be set apart in time. I find myself so thankful for all of these May days, for the way they have built my faith, given me memories and prepared me for such a time as this.