Mothers' Day

Tomorrow is Mothers' Day. As a mother, I realise that tomorrow wouldn't be possible for me without my three wonderful children. I had the privilege of shopping with M and B today and I really enjoyed their company. Sometimes I forget what a privilege it is to be a Mother - I get tired, stressed, grumpy. It's not the fault of my children that I'm having a "bad hair day", but somehow, I manage to be short with them, or my expectations may be too high - actually, if I'm going to be brutally honest, I can be downright unreasonable at times. I find myself apologising to my children often - apologising is a really good way of keeping our hearts soft. I have shed many, many tears over my children as I have realised some very hurtful mistakes I have made that have the potential to crush their spirits. I am so grateful to God that He is in the healing business for our emotions and I believe that He has healed J's spirit (in particular).

Why am I saying this? I think, as mothers, we can really take our children for granted. And then I hear something on the news that makes me absolutely grieve for the mother who has just lost her son/daughter. Like this beautiful little boy, for instance. In case you haven't heard the news lately, his father failed to return him to his mother after an access visit and nearly three weeks later, the police found his little three year old body down a mine shaft in Coober Pedy.

I must confess, whenever I hear stories of children being abused, abducted, murdered, neglected - and there are plenty of them - I am filled with anger and grief! Maybe I'm being a little melodramatic over children I don't know, who aren't my concern, who have nothing to do with me, but I see these precious little ones as God's most innocent creations who have had the opportunity to grow up and realise God's potential robbed from them. The devil wants to destroy the innocence of our society.

I see and almost feel the mother's hurt as she comes to term with empty arms and an agonisingly sorrowful heart. How does she deal with such pain? God sent His Spirit into the world so that we could have a comforter. He clothed Himself in flesh so that He could "heal the brokenhearted and set the captives free." As women filled with the Spirit of Jesus Christ, we have the privilege and opportunity to pray for the protection of our children. We want to see them grow up and fulfil the purpose that God has intended for them. Every step of the way.

When we read stories such as this, we ought to remind ourselves that our children need our prayers, they need us to encourage them, to love them, to correct them, to enjoy them.

Happy Mothers' Day. I pray we can be all that God has made us to be.

With so much love!