Five years ago, this sleep deprived family of five decided to start a new nightly summer routine of going for walks around our neighborhood. Having a fresh squishy newborn meant that the older two were feeling a little pent up in the house, while this mama figured out life with three babies. We would walk, let Jonathan ride his bike and Verona was quite content riding in the stroller. It wasn’t perfect, a little over a mile, but the fresh air always felt wonderful and the golden light never disappointed. We started mid July of that year, and continued until October; weather permitting.
This routine, would help keep us sane the next summer during the pandemic, and even into 2021. It felt as if we found a little slice of heaven right there in Midland. Slightly chaotic, yet peaceful, uninterrupted family time. “Family Selfies” became the norm, they learned that their photo loving mama was going to want to stop and take a “Quick family selfie” if the light was just right. I couldn’t have loved it more. Then we moved.
October 2021: The walk was nice, but I quickly realized, walking three cul de sacs tends to get pretty repetitive. With how our neighborhood is set up, if you want to venture out past that, it turns into a whole new kind of task, and a lot longer of a walk. Which isn’t as quiet and calm with three kids. So we scraped it. Just like that, my favorite post dinner routine was over and traded in for new activities. Mini sticks hockey in the basement, family mario kart races, exploring book series as a family before bedtime. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t like we were lacking in ideas to do with the kids, I just enjoyed the fresh air. That season of walks with little kids in strollers was gone so fast, I didn’t have a second to realize what had ended. In the blur of moving, unpacking and getting situated in our new home and new life in Ohio, I felt like a whole precious season had been stolen from me. I didn’t know how to process it. So I did what I usually do, I pushed that out of my mind and moved on with life, because being a SAHM of three and homeschooling, with a husband who travels a lot for work, believe it or not, is a lot of work.
I threw myself into every house project I could think of, painted almost every room, made this house feel like our home, and tried to ignore the ache in my soul for our old nightly routine of quiet walks.
Spring 2024: After years of training wheels, and fears of falling, we finally mastered the two wheel bikes (x3). All three kids learned within a few weeks of each other how to ride a two wheel bike, and just like that our nightly walks were (kinda) back on the table. The only problem was that, Ryan and I couldn’t walk fast enough, so the kids were getting annoyed with us for asking them to slow down. Until one night. LIGHTBULB MOMENT: Ryan pulled our bikes down from the garage ceiling, filled the tires and it was like suddenly a whole new neighborhood was opened up to us.
We were riding 4-6 miles a night, exploring the local high school, and off-road bike trails, etc. One night, as the sun was starting to go down behind the trees and the light was flickering through the trees, I felt my breath catch in my chest. I felt it. That ache in my soul that had been missing our old nightly routine, and I realized we found it. It wasn’t the same as before, but it was new and improved for this new season of life. Full. Family. Bike. Rides. My heart was exploding with excitement.
We can mourn the loss of old ways, and yet still rejoice in the new beginnings, God is kind of awesome that way. What’s the verse? Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
We faced new fears, we learned new skills, we skinned some knees and bruised some egos (mostly mine), but was able to find something new to cherish that got us outside and burning off energy.
