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!

Comments

Sometimes We Score, Sometimes We Block

Our family is in the midst of little league soccer season. My youngest son is playing and his enthusiasm is contagious. He is pretty good at the sport, but what makes it so great is that he loves it! He counts the days until the next game or practice. He loves his coach and teammates. He has moved up an age level this year and the players are working more like team, passing to each other and watching out for each other during play. During the last game, my son scored two goals, they were the only goals of the game. In today's game the team scored eight goals. My son came up afterwards to me and said, "I didn't score today, but I blocked". What a powerful truth those words can hold. In life, sometimes we score, sometimes we block. Sometimes we do great things, we excel, we achieve, we meet our goal - we score! There are also times we see the needs of others, sometimes they are sad or hurting, we block their hits. We look out for them so they can score. We

Top 10 Workout DVDs

Prevention Magazine is a leader in health and fitness news and products. They recently came up with the top 10 list of workout DVDs. They have examined the many fitness DVDs out there and narrowed down a list of the best ones. There is a DVD for every fitness level. If you are looking to incorporate some exercise into your day in the convenience of your own home, take a look at this list. Here is an additional money saving tip: If you see a DVD that you are interested in, check out Amazon or Ebay before ordering. Many times they have pre-owned DVDs at a fraction of the cost of a new one.

Word Filled Wednesday – Act Justly

He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8 Sometimes we struggle so hard with the question “What does God want us to do and be?” This verse is a simple yet powerful reminder of some simple things that God requires of us. Act and do justly, love mercy and walk humbly before God. There are numerous opportunities each day to do justly, to do the right thing or to make the right choice. We love mercy when we show kindness or mercy oftentimes to those who do not deserve it. Walking humbly before God is acknowledging He alone is God. He is the I AM – no one else is. When we give Him the glory He is worthy of, it will humble our heart before Him. Obeying God doesn’t have to be unattainable or impossible, but can be a joyful, beautiful journey as we go by step and follow Him.

Joyfull Living

Search This Blog