Peaceful May, How I've Loved You

I'm sad to say goodbye to May.

It's been such a wonderful month. Lovely in scenery, relaxed in pace, delightful in activity, it's been absolutely splendid.

Having finished homeschool for this school year in April, we settled into a different daily rhythm in May. A load I didn't even know I was carrying slipped off my shoulders as I put aside the schoolbooks. The boys had plenty of time for self-chosen leisure activities, like painting...

...and having some good old-fashioned country water fun.
Who needs a swimming pool when you can play in a watering trough? :) (Although, we had a blast playing in a real pool today at Daniel and Deborah's house!)

May had very few extracurricular activities; once we finished violin for Josiah, we didn't have to think about lessons and rehearsals and practices at home and getting four boys ready to go somewhere and sit quietly.

May included several trips to the library where we checked out big piles of books to bring home and devour. In May, Josiah discovered the fun of the Cooper Kids Adventure series by Frank Peretti; he even convinced me to read a couple, and I stayed up late reading until the end because I had to find out what happened.

May found me tackling a big organizing project - my kitchen - and making good progress on it.

Most of all, in May, I could definitively say that I had successfully crossed The Mountain. I may be a slow mountain climber; I certainly never expected that Shav would be 10 months old before I would really feel like the adjustment was complete. But each day, as difficult as some of them were, brought us closer to The New Normal that families strive for after a baby is born. And now here we are, a family of six, (mostly) adjusted and functioning smoothly.

Actually, I think everyone else in the family adjusted a long time ago; I was the one who was lagging behind. But here in the month of May, I have felt like an entirely different woman than I did a few months ago. I've had vision and energy to tackle new projects and to dream and plan a little along the way. I've had mental clarity, which is really huge because the fog that drifts through my sleep-deprived, hormonal, new-mom brain is probably the hardest part, for me, of having a baby. I've had the self-discipline to regularly clean up the kitchen entirely before I go to bed. I've had joy. I've had patience. I've had peace in more abundant supply than I've had for a while. I've made my relationship with God a priority and have seen specific growth in that area. I just feel so different than the woman I was during most of the past 10 months.

As we enter into June and July and the pace of life quickens due to some activities the boys will be involved in, I make it my goal to retain the joy, patience, peace, and all the other good stuff I've been blessed with in May. I always want to live like it's May.

Dear, dear May, thank you for being so kind to me. June, I welcome you with the summer violin lessons, soccer camp, VBS, etc. that you bring. July, I know you'll be here before I know it, along with more enjoyable experiences, like the trip to Tennessee that we're looking forward to. And August, I'm already awaiting you with much anticipation, since you are a nearly blank slate. Will you be my second May? Will you be as peaceful and fantastic as this month has been?