How do I love May, let me count the ways

May if full of things that make me happy...here's just a few of them:

• First of all, May is the month devoted to the Virgin Mary who I love dearly.  I have lost count of the times that she has untangled the knots in my life and protected me under her loving mantle.  This month my women's prayer group finished the book "33 Days to Morning Glory," and we all consecrated our hearts to Our Lady.  It was very special and I highly recommend Fr. Gaitley's book which beautifully explains why Catholics entrust our lives to Mary:  in short, because she will lead us on the most perfect path to Jesus.  I especially love the May Crowning Mass at my boys' Catholic School, where the entire student body honors Mary by placing flowers at her feet while singing "Queen of the May."  It is so beautiful...it must make Mary and Jesus smile! :)

• May is also the month of Mother's Day, and I have happily continued my dad's tradition of planting flowers on Mother's Day.  This year was too cold to actually plant the flowers on Mother's Day, but a week later I was able to get my hands in the dirt and make our front yard look lovely.  I love planting flowers.  It reminds me of all the years planting flowers side by side with my dad, which was our gift to my mom on Mother's Day.  Also, there's just something therapeutic about digging in the dirt and creating something beautiful.  I am hoping that our pretty flowers will inspire someone to buy our house this summer.  We are putting it on the market in June...  This is the second summer that we are trying to sell it.  To be honest, last summer was miserable trying to keep the house constantly clean with 5 active boys in the house, so this summer we have a much better plan...  The kids and I are heading to South Dakota to spend the summer getting spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa, while my sweet husband stays behind to keep the house ready for showings!  Why didn't I think of this last summer?!  Anyway, please pray for our house to sell quickly and for God to provide us a new home that will be perfect for our family.  St. Joseph, pray for us!!!

• May is also my birthday month.  I honestly forgot how old I was turning this year and had to do the math to figure it out!  :}  I guess that means I'm getting so old that I don't want to know how old I am anymore!  Hopefully it's not early onset Alzheimer's!  Anyway, it turns out I am 36.  This year I was totally spoiled by my husband who bought me a full-suspension mountain bike so that I could bike with him and our boys on some of the very best mountain-biking trails in the country!  I don't know if I will be able to keep up with my adrenaline-junkie boys, but I am very eager to try and to get my exercise in the fresh mountain air and gorgeous scenery!  Paul spent many months searching for the perfect bike in my favorite colors (chocolate brown and sky blue), and he even bought me a sky blue helmet, sky blue pedals, and sky blue handle grips so that everything would be completely color coordinated!  Boy, he sure knows me well. :) 

• And last, but not least, May is also the month of my anniversary.  This year Paul and I celebrate 15 years together!  They have not all been blissful or easy years, but they have been fruitful and sanctifying years.  We have learned how to make handsome boys (I wonder when will we learn how to make girls?), how to forgive, how to sacrifice, how to fight, how to kiss and make-up, how to fake it 'til we make it, how to cling to Christ when we want to give up, and how to keep guiding each other towards Heaven.  Marriage is nothing like I thought it would be, but just what my soul needed to learn how to be Christ-like.  Our anniversary gift to each other this year is something we have been dreaming about since we were courting...  We are making a pilgrimage to Medjugorje, the place where our love first began.  When I made my first pilgrimage to Megjugorje as a senior in high school, I made a deal with Our Lady (dangerous, I know).  I asked her to send me my spouse my first year of college, and if she didn't I would take it as a sign that I was meant to pursue the vocation of religious life, which was something I was seriously considering.  My frugal nature didn't want to waste time and money going to college if God wanted me to be His bride in a convent, so I wanted Mary to help me sort out my vocation right away.  And she did.  At Christmas break my first year in college I came home to visit my family, and Paul was on vacation from the Navy visiting his family in the same hometown of Aberdeen, SD.  While he was home, he happened to chat with my brother Steve (they were highschool classmates and friends), and Steve mentioned to Paul that I had recently made a pilgrimage to Medjugorje.  Paul's curiosity was piqued because his devotion to Mary had grown immensely over the past few years, so he gave me a call to ask me about my Medjugorje experience.  I was delighted to share my story and a sweet friendship was born.  After months of beautiful courtship via phone calls, love letters, and occasional trips to visit one another, it became abundantly clear to my heart that this man was Mary's answer to my very specific prayer request in Medjugorje.  We got married a year and a half after that first phone call, purposefully choosing the month of May to exchange our vows because we truly give Mary the credit for bringing our hearts together.  Perhaps that gives you a better idea of why Paul and I are so thrilled to be making this pilgrimage together after all these years.  We leave for Medjugorje on June 22nd.  Please pray that we have a safe and holy pilgrimage, and we would be honored to take any of your prayer requests with us to offer to Our Lady while we are there...you can send them via the comment section on this post or via email:  pmhurlbert@gmail.com.