Mothers, You Are Not Forgotten.
Joy and heartache, celebration and mourning. A seemingly odd pairing and yet daily we find ourselves experiencing both extremes, often simultaneously.Mother's Day is no exception. Celebration and mourning.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Romans 12.15
On this Mother's Day:
We celebrate the women who are knee deep in the trenches of endless self-sacrifice to little ones and we say "We see you and all of your constant sacrifice and we are grateful for your example."
We celebrate the women whose children are grown and we say "We see you and the endless investment you made and we are grateful for your example."
We celebrate the women who are anxiously awaiting the birth of their first baby and we say "We see you and your sweet expectant excitement and we are grateful for your example."
We celebrate the women who have chosen to give life through adoption and we say "We see you and all of your pain and all of your joy and all of the hard decisions and all of the heartbreak that may have led you here and we are grateful for your example."
We celebrate the women whose children are now having children and we say "We see you and all the patient, grace-filled ways you love your grandchildren and we are grateful for your example."
We celebrate the women who are loving and raising and protecting and teaching and praying for children that are not their own and we say "We see you foster mamas, mentor mamas, stand-in-the-gap mamas and all the love you have given and we are grateful for your example."
And we celebrate the women who have lost this year. We say "We see you. We have not forgotten. YOU are not forgotten."
To the woman looking at yet another negative pregnancy test; we see you.To the woman holding only a memory of a heartbeat, we see you.To the woman staring at a gravestone, we see you.
We see your bravery every time you smile and every time you get out of bed and every time you hold a baby that isn't yours and every time you give the honest answer about how many children you have. We see your sacrifice when you show up to church or to work or to your best friend's baby shower even though it hurts like hell. We see your selflessness when you put another's needs above your own, even when your heart is breaking. We see your compassion when you weep over another's story of loss and heartache. We see your faith when you praise the God who could have stopped this pain.We see you. And we are so grateful for your example.Your example has changed us.On a day when you might feel forgotten or lost or unsure of your place, know this: You are a mother. And we see you. And we are so grateful for you.And even more importantly, God sees you. Every sleepless night, every tear. Every single one.
"You have kept count of my tossings; Put my tears in Your bottle."
Psalm 56.8
On this day where we both celebrate and grieve, I hope you know and treasure this above all else: the same God who sees you and has kept count of your tossings and has put your tears in a bottle, He loves you. In fact, He loves you more loved than you could ever imagine. A never-ending-always-and-forever kind of love.
"I have loved you with an everlasting love..."
Jeremiah 31:3
Happy Mother's Day sweet friend. I'm praying for you today.