We're so close to the finish line. Sitting somewhere between the May-crazy, Memorial Day and the brink of summer — that wild in-between that moms everywhere know all too well.

Have you ever considered that these in-between spaces might actually be where the most interesting, joy-filled, deeply transformative things happen?

"Isn't it ironic, don't you think?" — Alanis Morissette knew something about May 😉

May has felt like the ultimate in-between. Surgery recovery. Kids sick. Kid breaking bones. The dog. My husband traveling. At some point I stopped counting the moving parts and just tried to stay grounded. Last week I finally tried a carpool pick-up — first taste of driving freedom in weeks. Sitting in the line, I got a call from the front office: my son had broken his arm badly. Get to the ER. Now. A little taste of freedom changed the day. The week. The whole kick-off to summer.

Australian writer and speaker Adriel Booker was recently on the podcast talking about liminal spaces. Those in-between seasons that feel like a detour but aren't. She shared how the in-betweens aren’t pauses in the story — they have their own sacred place. A place where transformation is taking root.

Want to know another thing she shared that I LOVED?! She pointed out that in Proverbs 3, it says God will make your paths straight — paths, plural. Not one perfect route. Lately, my path has felt more like a plate of spaghetti. But that's the reminder I needed: God makes sense of the spaghetti. If you’re in a spaghetti season, God’s got you.

Interestingly enough, philosopher and well-being researcher Dr. Lorraine Besser said something similar a few weeks ago in a podcast conversation on "the good life" — just from a completely different angle. She says what's missing from us feeling like we’re experiencing the “good life” isn't happiness or meaning — it's having more interesting in our lives. And, she says, interesting doesn't live on the other side of a hard or crazy season. It lives in the waiting rooms. The carpool lines. The ordinary places we miss rushing through them.

Two women. Two different worlds. One powerful conclusion.

I don't have a tidy takeaway. But I think that's kind of the point.

Being human isn't a weakness. It's not an excuse either. Being human is the very reason you can connect with God. Your limitations, your flaws, your whole messy spectrum — that's not a burden. That's the gift.

You don't have to hold on to hope. Hope is already holding on to you

One last thing…

Summer isn't a reward for surviving the year.

It's the next place you get to show up.

Maybe with a loosened grip.

Maybe a little less optimized.

Maybe with a broken arm.

Maybe with loud and crazy kids.

That's not a setback.

That's the interesting life.

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