I pray that what I have to share today will provide encouragement to those who need it and understanding for those who may need to encourage someone you know and love some day.
With some comic relief at the end :)
Let me start by saying that I know this weekend’s holiday is a painful or bittersweet time for many. Some of you don’t have your mothers here with you on earth anymore. Others of you are grieving the loss of a child. If either {or both} is the case, I pray that you know the peace that passes all understanding and that your Heavenly Father is there to wrap you in His loving arms of comfort.
Maybe your relationship with your mother has been strained, or even broken. I can only imagine the hurt you are feeling, but my prayer is that hearts could soon be mended and relationships restored…Nothing, you see, is impossible with God. {Luke 1:37 MSG}.
Some of you are feeling left out this weekend. Lonely. Forgotten. Unloved. I have been the woman who wanted desperately to become Mom to someone, or several someones. I have prayed the heart-wrenching prayers…only for God to answer “Wait.” “Wait some more.” then finally “Yes, but not the way you planned.”. And some get the answer they never expected… “No.” Maybe you’re a woman whom God has called to be single, or not to “legally parent”…and you’ve always been okay with that. Or maybe not so much.
I want to encourage you if you fit into this last category. I know it is hard to see, or even imagine, when you are in the midst of the frustration and disappointment but God has an amazing, beautiful and wonderful plan for your life! Even, and maybe especially, if it’s not the plan you hoped for {notice my life verse & tagline for my blog – top of right side bar}. In my case, God did decide to eventually make me a Mama. That’s part of the way He chose to heal that particular wound, but it didn’t heal immediately. In fact it couldn’t heal until I did my part.
He showed me that reluctant acceptance of the road He chose for me was not enough. In order for healing to come I had to: 1} Believe that God loves me just as much as everyone else and that He really does want to give me the desires of my heart – even if His plan means He can’t; and 2} Surrender completely and joyfully to His good, acceptable and perfect will {Romans 12:2}…no matter what! Please take note that while He healed my wound…I will always have a scar. It is my reminder to have compassion for others who must travel difficult paths. It is an altar stone laid in remembrance of a period of refining, where God revealed to me a portion of Himself. My trust and surrender were my act of worship.
" I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out-plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen. When you come looking for me, you'll find me. I'll make sure you won't be disappointed."
Jeremiah 29:11-14a MSG
He's got this sister! Believe it. Trust it. Surrender. Be comforted. God created women to “mother” – to nurture – and almost 100% of us do it on a regular basis, whether it’s our legal responsibility or not. Be a spiritual mother, a mentor, a teacher, a listener, an encourager, a comforter…you were MADE for it!
Now check out Anita Renfroe {my personal hair model – a story for another time perhaps} in her latest hilarious video…and Happy Mothers AND Others Day!!