Mother’s Day can be tough

I am so excited about Mother’s Day.  It’s a day I feel honored to celebrate the great Mom I have and it’s also a time I talk to my boys about the love I have for the mothers who gave them life- not to mention the hope I have for a little pampering for myself.  As I talked about mothers with my four year-old recently he told me he wanted to go back to Liberia to meet his first mom.  I told him I wanted to meet her too, since I never had a chance to thank her for taking such good care of him when he was in her tummy.  He responded, “But Mommy, I was in your tummy.  You came to the orphanage and they put me in your tummy!”  As open as we’ve been with Josh about his adoption story, we obviously still have some work to do!

As much as I love Mother’s Day, I will never forget what a difficult day it used to be.  One year my husband and I were in the midst of coming to terms with our infertility diagnosis while working as houseparents at a children’s home when Mother’s Day came.  It was a stressful morning helping seven boys get breakfast, dress appropriately for church, locate their Bibles, avoid arguments about whose socks were whose. and then get into the vans to be at church on time.  When we got to the church doors I saw teenagers were handing out carnations to the mothers.  As I walked in, flanked by my crew of handsome young men, the girl at the door reached past me to hand a carnation to my pregnant friend.  That’s when I realized that sometimes we can have a very strict definition of what a “mother” is.

Although this can be a tough day for those who have heartache related to mothers or mothering, I’m encouraging you to have a heart of gratitude for the women in your life who have functioned in a mothering role and for the children in your life who have benefitted from your love.  In the adoptive family of God, being a mother isn’t just about biology.