I have not always had the relationship I enjoy now with my mom. We have both had to work hard at forgiving one another & leaving the past behind to enjoy our current relationship. She is a treasure i continue to enjoy getting to know better. 🙂
Nor has being a mother always been smooth sailing. But my kids are the two biggest blessings God has bestowed upon me, and i am way more delighted with them than I am frustrated by the day to day messes they can leave around.
I can get how Mother’s Day stirs up lots of emotions within us:
For many, joy over their relationship with their mothers, which has been filled with enough blessings to outweigh the growing pains & hard times.
Joy at becoming a mom.
Others, grief over the early or sudden loss of their mothers, your soft place to land when things got rough or your sounding board when things were tough.
Grief over the unwise choices your children have made, as they have broken your heart by leaving or running away from home right into dangerous, unwise or unknown situations.
Or grief because you are not yet a mom. You have been struggling to have a child of your own.
You may have been blocked from formally adopting the child you adore.
Your heart aches for what you desire.
Some experience loss because they were abandoned or rejected by their mothers, and intensely feel the lack of that relationship within.
The other side of loss is anger, over abusive or neglectful mothering.
And for those who desperately want to be mothered, no matter why, an intense longing for that hole within to be filled with a mom.
Or the deep longing for your child to come home.
Or you long for the child you lost, the one who came before their time, or left before living a full life.
All these emotions can swirl around this holiday, making it one of the most emotionally intense holidays of the year.
I have experienced most of the above at one time or another.
I get it.
But more importantly, so does God.
He sees all the ways earthly mothering has broken, battered or abandoned those of you hurt by your mothers.
He knows the grief and devastation of your losses and your longings.
He wants to touch that painful emotion within.
I believe the father waiting for his son in the parable of the Prodigal Son also represents the full heart of God. That kind of love also includes the heart of mothers.
If God designed man and woman to both be in His image, than both fathers and mothers reflect His heart.
He too longs for your child to come home.
He grieves with you when your mother is suddenly taken from you.
He sees the cries you try to hide at night as you wail in your pillow for the child you lost, or the children you’ve been told will not be coming.
He tears up when you stand at your mother’s grave, and a wave of grief shakes you to your core.
He is there with you.
Just as a mother might be….with her arm around you, even though you may be too dazed to know she is beside you. Waiting for you to call, and share about your day.
I believe God gives those of us who are His ‘spiritual’ mothers, because He knows that so many of us are rocked by our childhoods, and need a wise discerning mother to step in and mother us where we need it.
I have been very blessed by one such mother, who has since moved on to worship & adore Her Lord face to face. God caused her to step in at a time when I needed such a mom, with her loving wisdom and redirecting me to Him. I am now pleased to say I have such a relationship with my earthly mother, because He has helped us restore it.
Mother’s Day to me is an earthly celebration, if you don’t know God. Its only one day a year to thank your mom for what she does for you.
Mother’s Day in God’s eyes? An opportunity for every mother, whether by birth, adoption or spiritually, to appreciate the gift of the children He has placed in your care. The ability to show God’s heart for His kids, every day.
If you are so blessed with a mom you adore, honor her. Take her out for a meal, if not on Mother’s Day than on your birthday, the day God made her your mom.
Take flowers to her grave, play her favorite movie, sing her favorite song, wear her color.
However she needs to know you appreciate the blessing she is to you when she is alive, and for you to honor her memory in your heart.
And after Mother’s Day is over?
Then honor your mother every day by thanking God for her.
If you struggle with your relationship with your mom, please visit Bonnie Gray‘s excellent blog post on how to find healing from your hurt:
http://www.faithbarista.com/2015/05/toxic-mom-7-ways-to-find-healing/
If you struggle with being the best mother you can to your children, or are waiting to become a mom, ask God to help you become that mother you desire to be. He will give you the patience you need to stay calm in the terrible twos, the strength to endure the sleepless nights of teething, illness and out past curfew, the wisdom to raise that headstrong child, and the ability to look back and laugh at some of your fumbles.
The best thing you can do as a mother? Know God. And point your kids to Him.
May your children arise to call you blessed. Proverbs 31:28a
KARLA LEES 