May Has Slipped In

May has slipped in with its usual promises of warmth and its show of colorful blossoms with sweet aromas floating on the air. Yes, there will also be days of chilly temperatures and gloomy showers. But each of these works together to give us the colorful show and the balmy fresh air that invites us to venture outdoors and enjoy.
As if that isn’t enough, we choose this month to honor Mothers and all that they mean to our families and communities. As with almost everything since the pandemic took over, our celebrations are muted or completely different, depending upon the latest advice on how we should mark our special events. However you choose to observe the day, we hope that your celebrations will be a time of joy, and perhaps even create some new traditions. On a more sober note, we also observe Memorial Day at the end of this month. A month of joy mixed with sadness.
The longer we live, the more we realize, like the month of May, there will be some dark days mixed in with the sweet times. Much as we anticipate the arrival of Spring, we know that there will be days when we regress into late Winter, and question how this can be. Likewise, over the years, and over the course of our lives, we shall know times of happy events, but there will also be discouraging times when we question, why me?
The very act of anticipation, of Spring, or of each happening that composes our days, relies on a key element of living: Hope. Enduring the up times and the down times work together to strengthen us. Without hope, there is very little incentive to keep going – to even get up in the morning to face the day. With hope, we can see a reason to do our work and speak each word with anticipation that something good will come of it. Hope becomes an integral part of our innermost feelings. With the element of hope in our hearts, even negative happenings can grant new wisdom - possibly even an unexpected happy outcome! With hope in our hearts, we are granted a positive outlook on life in general. Things may go wrong more than they go right, but hope gives us strength that will overcome the discouragement that challenges us in dark times. For in the end, there is an endless Source of hope beyond anything that we can conjure up on our own. “But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you.” Psalm 39:7
We hope that this month brings a source of joy each day, an appreciation of God’s Creation; and that we will, even on the rainy days, rejoice in God’s wonderful blessing of Hope. Virginia                                                                                                                                         May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.                                                      2 Thessalonians 2:16