Mother's Day

Mother's day is a day full of ---------- emotion!  I could have written love or I could have written appreciation but really it is a day full of emotion.  From children to adults from mothers to fathers from women without children to children without mothers this is day that our greeting card companies really can't make enough cards for.

As a mother to young children, I understand the desire for a "Mother's Day."  Raising children comes with moments of trial and tears, moments of frustration and joy, moments of exhaustion and more moments exhaustion.  Yes, our children should appreciate all we do each day but unless we teach them how to show appreciation that doesn't always happen.  Just this week my youngest son getting into trouble as always decided to crawl into a kitchen cabinet, laydown and fall asleep.  I could only laugh at this moment! 

As a pastor, I have sat with many people who wanted to have children and yet never could or the ones they did have died.  Motherhood was never within reach and yet they so desired to be one.  For many of them they found a way to "mother" anyway.  They were the best aunts or school teachers or sunday school / youth group leaders.  They "mothered" everyone and in return touched more lives then they probably know.  These woman should be honored on mother's day too.   One church I work at as a youth leader honor all woman on mother's day every year. The children / youth would hand out flowers and thank the woman.  It was very nice.  I remember one youth coming up to me and giving it to me and saying thank you. 

The emotions of mothers day go beyond the woman being celebrated and into the men/ children celebrating.  For those who have difficult relationships with their mothers or those who didn't have mothers, or those who are celebrating without their mothers this can be a time of grief.  So, yes we must be aware of all that is going on around us on mother's day.

With all that acknowledge and with the premises that we are going to look at this holiday with a boarder then what fits in the hallmark cards, then we should no matter our situation with our biologically mother or biologically children be able to find JOY in this day.  Life throws us circumstances, in life there is never a promise for things to be easy.  Yet we can with life's challenges find joy and ways to shape our own outlook that brings the good instead of the bad.  We can see God's blessings in life's misfortune, if only we have faith. 

For those without mother's there are plenty of others - people who helped make you who you are today, people who stepped up and did all the "mothering" and on this day you can celebrate them.  You are who you are today, not because you had a mother but because you were still able to find love in the world - a blessing from God. 

Or perhaps this is your moment today, to realize that you don't always need the perfect life that Hallmark greetings cards say you do but within the crazy mess of the life you have there is still blessings abound.  Instead of sitting today on what you don't have or missed out on, turn your emotions to what you did have/ what you do have. 

As our families change shape and our society continues to advance, mothers day will continue to expand to not just the woman who birth us, but to those who spend their days caring for us.  To those who love us and show us how to love.  To those who teach us about unconditional love.  To those who tend to our needs and those we call when we are in trouble.  Today is a day for us to honor the person who helped make us who we are! 

In this day let us thank God for mother (or mother figure) in our life!!! 

change

When we started teaching our oldest memory Bible verses we began with Joshua and "be strong and courageous, do not be terrified, God is always with you."  We had hand singles to help her remember them and we enjoyed watching her get this passage.  This was about the same time that she was fully potty trained.  Her bedroom was pretty far from the bathroom and she had a long walk in the dark (we left a LED light on inside the bathroom).  One night I woke up and heard her standing at the edge of her door she reminder herself: be strong and courageous, do not be terrified, God is with me; and then she ran to the bathroom.  After using the bathroom, again I heard her speak those words and rush to the bathroom.  Today she uses these words to reminder herself when things get a little scary that she isn't alone.

But her lesson her is one for us.  When we are on the brink of anything, especially things that scare us, we must allow God to be with us on that journey.  The dark is not that dark if we invite God to be apart of us.

That is a powerful lesson for us today.  With the changes that happen - be they big or small - we often find ourselves standing on the brink of change.  On the brink of the unknown.  During these times, we should ask God to walk the journey with us.

We are about to embark on a pretty big change, a move and job changes not just for one of us but both my husband and I. As we stand on the brink of the unknown we are inviting God into this journey so that the dark phase might be that much shorter!