“I am sure that, in my early youth, no teaching ever made such an impression
upon my mind as the instruction of my mother;
neither can I conceive that, to any child, there can be one who will have such influence over the young heart as the mother who has so tenderly cared for her offspring.”
-Charles Spurgeon
I wrote a post yesterday that I have since taken down. Not because I didn’t agree with what I wrote, but because after posting it I realized it was not the heart of what I truly wanted to communicate. And because I do not think I considered well the 2 sisters who had written the Mother’s Day posts I referenced, nor the sisters who may have been encouraged by those particular posts.
Motherhood is such a sticky subject. Celebrating Motherhood can be sticky too I suppose. Blogging about motherhood even stickier. Writing for me is a natural way of expressing thoughts (I may not have been blogging lately, but I haven't stopped writing) It feels good to just write. But as I went to bed last night--- it didn’t feel good--- it just felt sticky. So I apologize for the stickiness.
In motherhood especially, we can certainly find ourselves wrapped up in this identity. This role--- this main calling on our lives. I believe the 2 posts I read this week about Mother’s Day were simply trying to remind us that there is more to our identity than “mother”. And that is something I wholeheartedly agree with.
Mothers Day is certainly not a day to feel guilty. I feel guilt on many days…most days. I should be teaching my children more, they watch too much TV, my daughter eats Nutella on bread almost every morning for breakfast. I am familiar with Guilt…. I judge myself as a Mother almost every day. But on Mother’s Day? I actually take a breath and give myself a break. Today my family honors me and my service to them and I allow myself to simply enjoy the sweet blessings God has entrusted to me. Mother’s Day to me is a reminder to step aside from the striving and just enjoy this family…the sweet fruit of all my labor. To remember my own mother and the years of labor she poured into my life.
We certainly aren’t doing it all perfect as mothers…in fact we fail often. I know I must I rely daily on Christ to live out this calling of motherhood… So we cling to the cross, for in our weakness He is made strong. And His Grace is sufficient for us and all our Motherhood mess.
We are weak in indeed….Yet even in our weakness, we can be still be celebrated. Whether it be with breakfast in bed, a day at the spa, or a noodle necklace made by a 4 year old… let them celebrate you today. Let us celebrate those around us who have gone before us and those who walk alongside us in this great calling. Honor and respect and pray for those who long to be mothers, who have lost children, and lost mothers… and give thanks to God for the way he uses women to advance the Kingdom by bringing forth children--- and especially for those women who are faithfully raising children to love and honor Him.
Happy Mother’s Day!
