A Month in Review: June 2020

Once upon a time, when the girls were little, I had a little blog that I kept as a journal of sorts, with thoughts on life and current events, and raising and home schooling a gaggle of girls. One thing I always wanted to do on that blog, but was never able to be consistent with, was a regular Month in Review post. So, I’m going to try that here. My follow through is sometimes terrible, so no promises that this will actually be a regular post, but let’s give it a try and see what happens. ;-) The first little section is just a quick look back at progress around the house and life for our family. The second, longer section is answers to questions posted by my favorite podcaster, Emily Freeman on the Next Right Thing. She posted these questions in Episode 133 this past week and I really liked the way they got me thinking.

In the past 30 days or so, we have slowed down a bit on work on the house. At least the exciting stuff that makes for good Instagram stories. The living room did get painted and furniture is slowly arriving. Furniture got moved into the library. We refinished floors and bought the baby grand piano, which has been amazing. We have enjoyed the very unglamorous process of replacing our heat and air over the past few weeks. The guys from Blue Dot that have been working here have been wonderful, though, and have made the whole experience relatively painless. We’ve been able to enjoy the pool and take a couple of trips out to the lake. We’ve watched some good movies (The Hate U Give and Just Mercy) and had some hard, but good, conversations. Actually, we’ve had a lot of hard, but good, conversations. This non-confrontationalist is kinda worn out from them, to be honest. Fingers crossed that July holds some lighter subjects for us to discuss. ;-)

Questions for Reflection:

 In the past 30 days, what was your most life-giving yes? This may not be the “yes” that yielded the best results, got the biggest win, or led to the most accolades. But what is something you said yes to that felt like life? Name it.

As I look back on May and June, so much has happened, in our home and in the world. Covid continues to impact lives daily. Racial tension floods our social media. We try to move forward with life as normal as possible, but it’s hard to even know what that looks like anymore. I know there have been so many yesses – yes to time with friends, yes to family volleyball games, yes to lots and lots of walks through the neighborhood, yes to ice cream and Sonic drink runs, yes to swimming in the pool. But I think right now, my most life-giving yes in the past couple of months was to the purchase of the piano. I really didn’t want a baby grand. We have my grandmother’s old upright piano, so we didn’t need a piano. And it feels, if I may be honest, a little extra to have it in my living room. But having Emma sit down and play on the regular, having music fill our house again, has been a gift, and I’m so glad Matt pushed me to get one.

In the past 30 days, what was your most life-giving no? It may not have been a “no” that was easy to make, and you may have had to struggle to get the word out. Sometimes the simplest answer is the hardest to give, but you said no. And it opened the way for you. What was that life-giving no?

It’s funny. As I sit and reflect on this question, I’m realizing I don’t say a lot of “no”. My general response to God is “uh, sure” and to keep moving forward until He closes a door. My general response to my kids is to try to say yes, though I can’t always do that. My general response to opportunities and social events is also to say yes, though my introvertedness may hate me for that later.

 There are two circumstances in the past month that come to mind where a no of some sort was said. One by me in the life of one of my girls, the other one being said for me by someone else. Only time will tell if those no’s are life-producing, but I believe both were said out of obedience to God, so I’m trusting that they will be.

Name something you’re reconsidering. As a result of the last 30 days, maybe you’ve reconsidered a long-held belief, a biased worldview, an unhealthy relationship, or the way you’ve allowed grief, anger, or fear to build up in your body. You may not have answers or resolutions, but reconsideration done in the presence of God is an important part of our becoming.

 I’m sure there are things we are all reconsidering right now. Matt and I have spent a fair amount of time and energy this past month discussing and reconsidering the idea of teenage dating and how we handle that with our girls. Most of us are reconsidering the realities of systemic racism and police brutality. We seem to be constantly in a state of reconsidering what is accurate and inaccurate in the spread and prevention of Covid. Right now, I am reconsidering how I manage my time some days and where in the house I can be most productive (turns out it’s not my office, even though I do love having one finally).

What was the funniest thing that happened last month? Don’t skip this one. Think about it fully. Review your days without hurry and consider a time when you were caught off guard, where the heaviness was replaced with levity, where the spark of joy met you in the moment and sent your head back with laughter. Your smile does not betray your heavy heart. You are human, and you have the capacity to carry both grief and joy.

 So much of the past two months has felt heavy, but there have been light moments and times of laughter. Picking the funniest moment seems so difficult. Maybe it was waking up to the cat covered in olive oil after getting her leg stuck in a pest control glue trap. Maybe it was the bird stuck in our house that we had to figure out how to get out. Maybe it was the girls roasting Matt at dinner. Maybe it was me roasting Matt at dinner. It may have been Chandler’s friends trying to sort themselves out of a human pretzel. It may have been walking into the kitchen and finding one of the girls sitting in the pantry eating sugar out of the sugar jar with a tablespoon while watching Minecraft videos and then laugh-cry begging me to leave her alone to “eat in shame”. Yeah. That was actually probably the funniest thing I saw all month.

What will peace look like next month? One thing we can count on is that time will move us along, but how? What will it look like to carry the peace that passes all understanding with us into the next 30 days?

Peace will look like continuing to trust God and rest in Him. We have no idea what tomorrow holds, let alone all of July. Daily going to God, choosing not to borrow from tomorrow’s troubles, and anchoring ourselves to Him in the midst of the chaos is where peace will be found.

Where did you see God in June?

I saw God in my kids’ laughter, in time with friends, in hard conversations and deepened relationships. I saw God in grace extended, forgiveness given, and hope restored.

What’s one thing you learned in June?

I’ve learned (again) that I carry my children’s’ pain in my body. When they hurt, I hurt. I’ve learned (again) that running is cheap therapy, and apparently I’ve needed a lot of that the past few months. I’ve learned (again) that laughter is medicine and we all need more of it.

What’s the best thing that could happen in July?

An end to Covid? An end to racism? The return of Jesus? I don’t know. Just a quiet, drama-free month would be amazing – both at home and in the world. But, since that’s not likely, maybe just more laughter, more meals together, more games and movies, more enjoying time together before Emma leaves for Basic and the craziness of a new school year begins. And more of Jesus in all of us.

Here’s to July and making the most of the moments we have!