Mother’s Day in Grief
Holiday’s are different since my mom left this earth, they feel less special somehow and also more special at the same time. Grief is a combination feeling, while I would give anything to have one more moment with my mom, I’m also grateful to now have the keen awareness of how important all our moments are. So with that in mind I have a perspective of Mother’s Day that is different than before. While my heart hurts wanting to hug my mom on this Mother’s Day, I also don’t take for granted all the days that I did get with my mom. Not everyone has a special relationship with their mom or one at all, and how grateful I am for the one I had with my mom.
My mom was a teacher, and she was teaching me up until she passed away in the car accident, and what’s funny is she is still teaching me today. While she might have thought I wasn’t listening at times, I was always listening, and her lessons replay in my mind over and over. I would call our relationship spiritual as well as a friendship, as well as teacher/student. Sometimes she wouldn’t even have to say anything and I could feel in my soul what she was trying to say. Like any relationship, it wasn’t perfect, we had our ups and downs; but what the grief has taught me is I only see the good now. So carrying that through in relationships now, to focus on the good now instead of waiting till the end. How can I see more like God sees people is a question I often stop and ask myself now. What a beautiful blessing to have this perspective now.
For me the mother/daughter relationship wasn’t like any other, there was an understanding there that can’t be matched by any human. So having her not physically with me has brought up so much pain. When I feel this pain I reach my hand out for Jesus, and I think about his mother/son relationship and I can feel him comforting me and grieving with me. So on this Mother’s Day for me I am imagining the biggest celebration for all the mom’s led by Jesus’s mom, what a beautiful image. I see a garden party with all the good food and music.
What’s your perspective this Mother’s Day? Whether you have a great relationship, no relationship, maybe your mom is in Heaven like mom or maybe you are wanting to become a mom, or have lost a child - I wish I could reach through these words right now and give you a big hug, but instead I pray you can feel all the love in the world surrounding you. God is love and he is chasing after you, turn to him and let his love surround you.
Father God, thank you so much for the gift of life. Consume me this Mother’s Day with your love, help me feel my mom’s presence and love. I pray for anyone praying with me that you meet them right where they are at in their life journey. I pray forgiveness comes easy for those that struggle with the mother relationship, knowing it’s about their own peace and fully allowing their heart to connect with your heart. I pray for anyone grieving that they seek you and find a peace that surpasses all understanding. In Jesus Name, Amen.