Saying goodbye to May

Sweet snuggles with my Lickey Loo

It's been a crazy month. I'm praying that June will feel more relaxed and slowed-down. The weather this week so far has been awesome, and reminds me that summer is on its way. This weekend is the Clinton Spring Fair which is always a blast. From the demolition derby on Friday night to the midway on Saturday. Sunday we have a special service planned at church based on missions and a potluck lunch. For any of you non-mennonites out there, you may not realize why the word potluck excites me so much. Some of my great church memories from childhood were our Sunday afternoon potlucks. It was always a great chance to get to know people. There's something about sharing a meal with people that really brings you together. So we all cook like crazy, and bring it all together to share, and we have a smorgasbord of homemade mennonite cooking to enjoy together. It's quite the thing. This Sunday we're bound to have loads of rhubarb deserts of all kinds to enjoy. I'm looking forward to it. Our friends from the church at Jane and Finch are coming as well, so we're looking forward to seeing them again too.

My hibiscus has been beautiful. It started to bloom again last week for the first time since November. I can't believe how much joy this beautiful plant has brought me, it was one of the greatest birthday gifts I ever got myself :) Truly, the flowers are breathtaking and you just never quite know when you'll come downstairs to a gorgeous blossom in the morning. They only last 1-2 days so their beauty is fleeting, but extraordinary.


As I await another birth, I am reminded that the beauty of birth is like a flower. You see the bud get larger and larger, but you just never know the moment when it's going to open. It's something you can't ever force, it will open when it's time. All you can do is to sit back and to wait for the time to come. So I wait. Trusting God that everything will happen at the exact time it is meant to happen. Patience and trust.

If there is anything I wish for my clients it's those two things as well; patience and trust. That they would have the patience to let their bodies do what they are designed to do. That they would trust the process of birth. That they would trust in their bodies. That they would believe in their ability to face the labour process, knowing that they can do it! Yes, it will be the hardest thing they've ever had to do, and it may not even go according to what they are hoping for, they will have the strength to face it, and they will come out the other side a stronger woman for the experience. I teach women the questions to ask in their births when interventions are suggested by their caregivers. I want couples to know how to get all the information from their doctors so that they can make informed decisions. Then, even if they end up with a cesarean birth, they come out of the experience knowing that they made fully informed decisions, and they did everything they could to have the best possible experience for themselves and their baby. They can still come away from a birth with a feeling of empowerment. This is my prayer that I can help them to come away with this feeling.

Mel