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Mother's Day is tomorrow.
This holiday can be such a blessing. But it can also be a very hard day for many people. Many of you out there are grieving the loss of your mom. Others would have wanted children, but were not blessed with any and perhaps have had several miscarriages. Others have children but are estranged from them. Still others would have loved to have kids, but never had the opportunity to marry. Any of these scenarios can bring extreme sadness on Mother's Day.
And then there are a handful of other mothers... The ones who actually have a loving child or loving children... children who pay attention to them and love them, but don't necessarily show it in the way their mother would want them to show it... Mother's Day can be sad for these mothers as well.
In fact, maybe most of us women fall into one of the above categories, and as such, we may all see Mother's Day as bittersweet at best.
I was contemplating this today. My mother and mother-in-law have both gone to be with the Lord and I can no longer honour them on Mother's Day. The thought made me sad. I also know that as loving as my kids are, they probably wouldn't be honouring me on Mother's Day in the way I would want to be. Not because their intentions aren't good, but because I have pretty high expectations. This particular holiday, along with my birthday, can be incredibly hard for me as a result. As I was thinking about this and asking God to help me to not be unhappy on Mother's Day, God asked me a strange question:
"Who should really be honoured on Mother's Day?"
Wow. That was deep!
You see, I am busy waiting for my kids to show me the honour that I hope I deserve. Meanwhile, I am totally overlooking the fact that it was an honour -- a blessing and a gift from God -- to be a mother and to have had a loving mother in my life! Rather than contemplating and anticipating that my high expectations be met, wouldn't I be better spending my time thanking God for the blessing of being a mom and a daughter? Suddenly I began to see how honoured I had already been! Just the fact that God saw me fit to place two wonderful boys in my life was much more of an honour than I could even fathom!
Do you know what I did? I went and prepared a special brunch in honour of my kids who were home, and I texted my kids who were far away and thanked them for being wonderful kids, telling them how blessed I was to have been chosen to be their mom and mom-in-law!
But wait. That trick works for those who are or have been mothers or daughters. But what about the want-to-be moms? Those who can't have children for one reason or another. If this is you, I need you to know that God feels your pain. Don't let this make you feel less than beloved, however. Consider this: God has a calling for you that is even higher than that of being a mother or a daughter, and He is honouring you by asking you to be a mom to someone who, for whatever reason, doesn't have a mom. God is asking you to reach out to the kids at church. He is calling you to be a block mom for the kids in your neighbourhood. He is honouring you with the privilege of helping kids with their homework, listening to them, cheering them on, believing in them. Is it harder than taking care of your own kids? You bet it is. But God wouldn't have given you this challenge if He hadn't known you could rise to the occasion. He has honoured you with calling! Why not spend some time contemplating this today?
Let's remember always: "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." (Ephesians 1:3 NIV)
In His love,
Lyn
Lynona Gordon Chaffart
Moderator, Associate Director, Answers2Prayer Ministries
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