When Mother's Day Is Difficult

May has arrived in all it's beauty. Our highways are a sight to behold with wildflowers spreading masses of color on the sides. The weather is beautiful, the school year is almost done, it is a beautiful month. If you haven't noticed yet...it is also the celebration of Mother's Day!

You can hardly enter a store without the bright, colorful display reminding us of the approaching of Mother's Day. Beautiful cards, gift ideas that target the feminine senses of things we as women love, gorgeous plants and flowers bombard us as we enter stores.

These are great reminders of the upcoming special day for mom and an exciting time to choose a special gift to let mom know how special she is to us. But even amidst the joy of Mother's Day, we can find hurting women among us. These can also reminders of the pain of grief and loss.

Mother's Day changed drastically for me once my own mother passed away. The first year, I couldn't bring myself to attend church. Time does bring healing and God's grace gives us the strength to go on, but the feeling of grief is never far away. A few years back, I remember sitting in church on Mother's Day. It was the year my oldest son was a few weeks away from getting married. A cute skit was played in honor of the day depicting the stages of motherhood from baby days all the way through to embracing grandchildren. Somehow in the midst of the reminders of the importance of a mother's influence, my emotions got the best of me. A dear friend had recently lost her mother and the two of us ended up in the church parking lot crying together, with lots of hugs and words of comfort and eventually smiles which came from sweet ministry to one another in the moments of grief.

Mother's Day may be a difficult day for women for a variety of reasons. Some have lost their mothers. Some may have lost children and their identity as a mother. Many long to be a mother but infertility or miscarriage seem to rob them of the blessed opportunity. If we look close enough to the women we know, we probably can recognize some of these ladies. Mother's Day provides a perfect opportunity to share grace. The grace found in God's love, reaching out to each other.

Mother's Day is a beautiful day - a day to give, to receive, to be thankful and to show love.

Happy Mother's Day!

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