For some of us, Mother’s Day is filled with joy, and we embrace the opportunity to celebrate the boundless love of those who have nurtured us: women who gave us birth as well as women who raised us. For others of us, the holiday comes with more mixed emotions, including pain, longing, confusion, and loss.
God makes space on Mother’s Day for all of us, wherever we are on life’s journey.
Some of us are thankful for moms who are still with us, and we relish the opportunity to celebrate them.
Some of us are caring for aging moms and experiencing a mixture of gratitude and grief.
Some of us are missing our mothers this year. We feel their presence, and we long for their guidance and nurture.
Some of us are estranged from our mothers or have deep-seated resentment, anger, or misunderstanding in our relationships. Mother’s Day can be a reminder of all that is broken and unresolved.
God makes space on Mother’s Day for all of us, wherever we are on life’s journey.
Some of us are adoptive mothers or step-mothers. Mother’s Day may be full of joy as we remember choosing motherhood. It may also bring complex feelings about what it means to parent a child brought into the world by someone else.
Some of us have lost children to illness, miscarriages, estrangement or death – we may find ourselves suffering in silence, our friends and acquaintances not aware of the pain that lingers.
Some of us wanted to adopt children or give birth but were not able to. Mother's Day can be a tough reminder of the longing we felt to parent.
Some of us chose intentionally not to have children. We have to put up with the awkward “Happy Mother’s Day” greetings at supermarkets and the pressure of friends and family who don’t understand our choices.
Some of us discover that because we didn’t have children we were raising ourselves, we were even more available to be present to others’ children or to follow a different calling altogether.
God makes space on Mother’s Day for all of us, wherever we are on life’s journey.
Some of us were not raised by women. We may feel like there is no place for us on Mother’s Day.
Some of us are not women ourselves, but we identify with the work often assigned to moms. We cared for the children when they were sick, attended PTA meetings, cooked family dinners, changed diapers, helped children with homework and tucked them into bed.
God makes space on Mother’s Day for all of us, wherever we are on life’s journey.
