Mother’s Day
John 10:10
“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”
Mother’s Day, like Valentine’s Day, is one of those holidays you either hate it or you love it. Days such as this can conjure up old feelings and memories of a painful past, making it unenjoyable. Mother’s Day is a day that once brought me great pain. The Lord has now replaced that pain with satisfaction. Without going into too much detail, I lost my mother at the age of nine. At the age of sixteen, I became a childless mother – I bore a sweet son and chose to give him up for adoption. Mother’s Day was anything but a celebration. I had no mom to celebrate, and honestly, after having given my child away, I didn’t think I ever deserved to be a mother again; In fact, I convinced myself that there was no way God would ever give me another child. I didn’t believe this day could ever be redeemed.
Have you been there sisters? Have you ever felt like something in your life couldn’t be redeemed? Some of you may not have mothers. Some of you may not have mothers that you feel are worth celebrating. Others of you may have an amazing relationship with your mom, yet the Lord has not answered your longing to be a mother. Maybe you have a great relationship with your mom and you have amazing children, but you can’t help but feel judged and inadequate as a mom. Perhaps, you don’t feel you are even worth celebrating. Worse yet, maybe you had to bury your precious baby. Wherever you stand on this spectrum, Jesus wants to remove the pain, lift the burden and make you whole. “The thief’s purpose is to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus wants to give you a rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10).
Grace
How do we open ourselves up to Jesus to allow this? By taking Him at His word. Know that we all fall short of the glory of God – give grace and let grace be given to you. Understand that we cannot bind ourselves relationship ideals. We can never be what people need us to be, and people can never be for us what we need them to be, only Jesus can be our everything. We must accept that we will endure suffering, but it is only for a moment. I found satisfaction when I realized my perfect life isn’t going to come on this side of the veil, so I need to let it go and do what I have been called to do until Jesus calls me home. Until then, I need to allow Jesus to fill my aching heart that longs for that mother/daughter relationship, I need to trust Jesus with the life of my sweet son I will never raise. What Satan meant for evil, God used for good.
This life is but a moment, a vapor, we are to embrace it for what it is, enjoy it while it’s here, forgive often, love much, and be prepared to leave it behind. This world is full of pain, and as Christians, that is one thing promised to us on earth – suffering.
Whether you are a mother, or you desire to be one, we must remember this one thing, it is better to give our children roots in Jesus, than in this world. He is the only one who can make them whole.
This is particularly true in this lifestyle, many of our children don’t have a hometown, they move from country-to-country and place-to-place; what better thing to teach them that this is not our home and that nothing here can make them whole, only Jesus can.
Daddy, thank you for seeing each of our days before we lived one. Thank you that you know the pain of saying goodbye and understand the hurt we may carry in our hearts. Please Lord, make us whole. Fill the gaping holes. Ease the broken hearts and give strength to the weary mom who feels she is unworthy. Let us find peace in you today. It is in your precious name we pray,
Amen.
XOXO
Tierra Haynes says
Absolutely amazing Dori! Your transparency is so beautiful and this so preciously captures every aspect of motherhood.