Mother's Day Is Coming | Hope for the Grieving Mother | Bonus Episode

by Mary Margaret Powitz

Mother’s Day is coming. Can you feel it? Your bones ache and your mind wanders. You exhale anxiety and breath in worry. Can I handle it? What will it be like? What do I do? How terrible will it be this year?

During your weekly zoom meeting with friends, someone asks, “ Oh, is that this Sunday or next? Shoot, I need to order something”. Oh, how you long to return to that place, the nonchalant, carefree attitude towards a day that to many means mimosas, brunch, handmade cards and tissue paper flowers.

But you can’t. For Mother’s Day is not a day of joy to you, but rather a day that reminds you of exactly what you’ve been missing. Whether you have no children on earth, or 15, when you lose a child, Mother’s Day is painful. All around you are smiling faces and seemingly happy children, mothers doting on their children who showered them with flowers and breakfasts in bed and macaroni picture frames.

And here you are, days before Mother’s Day, wondering, will anybody remember? Will anyone celebrate my motherhood? Not just the one that they see, but the one that is only a memory, a picture, a dream?

They might. And they might not. But either way, isn’t your motherhood, no matter how it looks, worth celebrating — in its’ entirety? You may have only carried your child for a few days, or maybe 16 weeks, maybe 36, and maybe you even got to bring your baby home. However long you had with your child, they still lived, and you still loved them, and you are still a mother. Whether anyone else claims it to be true.

Really.

Which means, you don’t have to wait for anyone else to “do something.” Mother’s Day doesn’t have to be about what others do or don’t do, but about how you choose to celebrate your own story and value as a mom. We aren’t bound by other’s definitions or views, but can have confidence in who the Lord says we are and what we know we’ve experienced. Which means, we don’t have to rely on others to bring our motherhood value. What freedom this can bring! Not only to you but to others. When we let our friends and family off the hook and allow ourselves to be defined by the Lord, we can celebrate who He’s made us to be, our child’s mother, without setting ourselves up to be disappointed.

There seems to be a false Christian belief, and even cultural, that celebrating yourself is arrogant, selfish, and cocky. I confess, my own thoughts have whispered “Humble people don’t celebrate themselves.” However, I think when we deny celebrating ourselves, be it our birthdays, anniversaries, or Mother's Day, we’re actually commenting on what we believe about ourselves, who God has created us to be and what he has done through us or in us. God sees your strength. He sees your resilience and pain. He sees all of us and I believe He invites us to be kind, gentle, and loving toward ourselves.

So this Mother’s Day, along with our Father in Heaven, we invite you to be kind, gentle, and loving toward yourself. We invite you to celebrate yourself and your motherhood. We do not have to wait for someone else to make plans, but can plan our own celebration, big or small. Whether it is a long bath, a big breakfast, or a new piece of jewelry, make a plan to treat yourself on this day of high emotions and great honor. God chose you to be your child’s mother. He saw you and said, “She will carry my child well.” That is worth celebrating. How will you choose to do it?

Thursday we will share 10 Ways to Celebrate Mother’s Day, 10 simple ideas you can do for yourself to celebrate your motherhood. We’re standing with you and declaring, your motherhood matters, and it’s worth celebrating.