May: A Month of Expectations, Hope, and Celebrations!

There’s something about May that stirs my soul – In my home, we celebrate May Day, my daughter’s birthday (16^th this year!), my mother’s birthday (she would not appreciate it if I shared this specific detail!), and Mother’s Day!  This is a season that the world around each of us seems to exhale—so many celebrations, trees stretching into fullness, flowers opening with purpose, sunlight lingering a little longer each evening. And after months of gray skies and bare branches, May feels like a reward. A promise fulfilled. A sacred pause between what has been and what is still to come.

May is truly the month of expectations and hope.

Graduations fill calendars, celebrating the end of one chapter and the anticipation of another. Gardens bloom not just with beauty but with the silent assurance that growth happens—sometimes slowly, sometimes unseen, but always on its way. In many communities, May is a time of transitions: confirmations, weddings, retirements, farewells, and new beginnings.

It’s also Mental Health Awareness Month, an intentional time to name what we often carry quietly. It’s a call to honor the deep and holy work of healing. To listen well. To de-stigmatize struggle. To remind ourselves and others that tending to our mental health is not weakness—it is wisdom, and it is vital.

This May, we also celebrate a special milestone: the 5th birthday of Chrysalis Counseling for Clergy! For five years, Chrysalis has been a safe space for those in ministry to process, breathe, grieve, and grow. It has walked alongside clergy through transition, trauma, discernment, and deep transformation. The work done there is sacred. And it too, is a testament to hope—a reminder that even in the most fragile seasons, something new can emerge.

Scripture reminds us:
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” —Isaiah 43:18–19

Indeed, new things are happening —sometimes in quiet ways, sometimes in bold ones – but always with love, and always with hope.

If you or someone you know is in ministry and needs a place to rest, reflect, and renew, consider connecting with Chrysalis Counseling for Clergy. Visit www.ChrysalisCounselingForClergy.org to learn more or offer support. Your prayers, referrals, and encouragement help sustain this vital ministry.

So, let us live into this month with open hearts and expectant spirits. Let us plant kindness, nurture faith, and water our dreams. Let us care well for one another—and for ourselves – because in May, the ground is fertile—not just with flowers and fields, but with possibility, with healing, and with hope.