My very first Mothers Day was a miserable one. My baby girl was still in the NICU and I had somehow contracted pink-eye, so I couldn’t even see her. My husband went to church and then the hospital and I spent most of the day by myself, trying to not cry and spread the infection all over the house!
It sucked.
But as I moaned my misery, a part of me would check myself, because it wasn’t the worst Mothers Day that could be, although I still feel it was pretty bad. I had a friend whose little baby boy had passed on within a month of her having him. She was doing well with her loss, it was a miracle that he’d made it to birth, and she’d valued each day she had. Still, I knew, this was also her first Mothers Day.
And I knew of others as well, those who cried and grieved their empty arms, wishing for motherhood and never having had that wish fulfilled. Those Mothers without children in the world, and children without Mothers.
Does it seem a melancholy way to honor Mothers Day with my words today?
Mother. It’s an honored word. It’s a precious thing to be. It’s a precious person to have!
Mothers, I hope you feel cherished today for all you do. You are your Childs first love, first guide, first teacher, the beginning of their understanding of the world.
Children, old and young, reach out and honor a Mother today, your own especially if she is still within reach to honor.
And those beautiful women who are not Mothers and wish to be, who’s hearts are full of love that wishes for a little one to bestow it on, its ok to cry a little today, and eat a little ice-cream. You have a mothers heart, and that should be honored too.
Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her; … Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate. Proverbs 31:28,31
Happy Mothers Day!
~Joy Aletheia Stevens
Photo Credit: by Sheree Altobelle (CC BY 2.0)
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