I think many of us can agree that these last weeks in May are filled with great joy, hope, and anxiety. Joy for another successful end to what sometimes seemed to be the school year that would never end; hope for a fun and adventurous summer; and anxiety for the unknown as we celebrate graduations and new beginnings. For moms, the month of May is, to put it bluntly, complicated. One minute we are rejoicing in having a break from rigorous routines, and then in the next minute we are crying with our children as we adjust to life without the rigorous routines that keep things comfortable and predictable. I think that I am not alone in pondering, “Why must we go through these things every May?!”
In these last weeks of May, however, as I bounced from one end of the school year ceremony to the next, I could not help but return to God’s assurance that “there is an appointed time for everything,” a time to laugh, mourn, dance, and “uproot the plant[s]” that we have planted (Ecclesiastes 31:2). There is a time for everything. For this go-around, as I transition from the end of the school year to summer, it is time for uprooting the plants that have been planted this past year, and it is the part of this season that I look forward to most.
Over the course of the school year, many types of seeds have been planted in my children’s hearts and minds. Some seeds have grown into fluencies in math, reading, and even in how to wait politely for their turn in the lunch line. But the greatest of the seeds that have been planted have been those which have taught them to love fiercely and not to be afraid of failure, for God (and their mom!) will always love them and will be there to catch them when they do fall short of reaching their goals. Now it is time for them to uproot the plants which have blossomed from these lessons and to go and to do. It is time to share the seeds they have gathered both from school and, more directly, from the hands of God. It is time for them to share those seeds of love, courage, and trust with others that they will meet along the way as they journey through the next season.
As this season ends and another begins, I hope that you, too, will take some time to enjoy that which has blossomed in your own children and your family’s life. Enjoy the beauty that has blossomed from the hands of God this past season. Relish the joy of the season’s end and the new beginnings ahead. Say a prayer of thanksgiving for all that your family has been blessed with this season. It is time enjoy the plants, grown into a lovely garden, that God has helped us grow in the sun and the rain.
Jodi,
This is beautifully written. As a teacher, and a mom, I experienced the busyness of May and the toll it takes on most families. Thank you for the reminder that May can be seen as a season of gathering the fruit and blossoms that have been growing throughout the year. We often forget the little things that our kids and students have learned and the importance of each seed that was planted!