Mother...this word wells up emotions in all of us. Most of these emotions are positive, but for many there is pain as we think of losses in our lives.
For many, motherhood has not followed an expected path. However, over time of healing I pray we are able to see beauty in our unique journeys. Personally, I struggled to become a mother and lost a child along the way. In addition to this, motherhood looked different in my upbringing because I was raised in a blended family. When I was young I had foster siblings, step siblings, neighbors, children from church and many others sitting around my dinner table. Through this I was taught the beauty of family God weaves together. This beautiful picture caused me to pursue a life that allows my dinner table to look a bit like the one I was raised around.
One of the unique God-led ways my family is currently expanding is through foster care. The beautiful tapestry God is weaving for us through being a foster family teaches us daily lessons. The most pivotal lesson I am learning is an open-handed dependence on God. A dependence that doesn’t tightly grip to the things of this world, but instead opens hands for God to fill and use. This sentiment reminds me of children whose hands are often reaching up to find security in their parents. I know I must be childlike in my trust, yet I find myself struggling to also not be childlike in a relentless fight for what I want. We see children desperately want to hold on to what is “mine.” They think they know what they need or at least what they want.
I know God seeks a relationship with all of his children; constantly reaching a hand of rescue and relationship to us. Isaiah 41:13 reminds us that our God “takes hold of our right hand and says, ‘Do not fear; I will help you.” Even with these reminders I at times have tightly closed fists around what I want instead of releasing my hands to the rescue and relationship that can only be found in Jesus Christ.
So, in this journey of parenthood as we teach our children to open their hands and share let us too be reminded to release and share control with our Savior. Therefore, this Mother’s Day my prayer, for all of us who consider ourselves nurturers, is to faithfully open our hands to God and allow Him to fill our hands and hearts with the assurance that He who has begun a good work in us will be faithful to complete our beautiful tapestry for His glory alone!