Mother's Day 2012

The day was fast approaching and I hoped that I would wake up on

Monday without having to go through Sunday. I am not sure why

it is such a difficult day for me, nor am I alone in this. It is a day set 

aside to celebrate motherhood, but so often there seems to be little

to celebrate: singleness, ones own difficult Mom, the death of a child,

barrenness, empty nest... Our culture does not honor motherhood as

anything special. Even the church can produce some pretty lame sermons

on Mother’s Day. One pastor in particular stands out to me because he

used this particular day to excoriate women! (I hid in the nursery.) My kids

left home to seek their fortunes at 20 and 17 and have lived across the 

country ever since making it difficult to be together on this day.

This past week a friend and I sat over lunch and compared notes. She too

had some bad memories but I love her slant on it. Donna noticed in scripture

that God honored mothers and she has taken this as her foundation which

has changed the day for her. She celebrates God’s heart for her! Donna 

invited us over to spend Sunday with her and her family, including two

delightful grown sons. 

However, when Sunday morning arrived I noticed that self pity had also

arrived. The presence of self pity usually leads to “a bitter root expectation.”

I spent some time sitting with Papa regarding this and then headed down-

stairs to fix breakfast. There at the bottom of the stairs stood Jesus! No, I

did not see Him with my physical eyes but I knew He was there and that

He was holding a white box tied with a red ribbon. What was in that box?

Well, throughout the day I received the individually wrapped gifts: the sermon,

the flowers, the cards, the phone calls, the fresh strawberries, the steak dinner

lovingly grilled by my husband, balloons, laughter--all tied up under a blue

sky with lots of sunshine!

Thank you, Papa, for bringing light into a dark place, for showing up and 

showing off!