I just had to slow down for a moment to let all of you Mommas know that I’m thinking about you with love and admiration! Mothers are INVALUABLE—and NONE of us would be here without them!! 🙂

When I wrote this, I was sitting in the waiting room of an urgent care center.

On that morning, our precious daughter was in an accident and totaled her car. Thankfully, by the abundant grace of our loving God, she walked away from it with only an air-bag burn and a couple of sore joints.

I’m sure you can imagine our relief as we realized all of this, after the initial, disturbing text which came from Apple (!) notifying us of a “crash detected SOS” sent from her phone, since Charlie is on her emergency contact list! 😳

Life is a priceless treasure. This fact was drilled home once again that morning! If you have given birth, adopted, fostered or helped raise someone, you completely understand this.

Sometimes we get caught up in the busyness of our child-driven activity schedules, or distracted by poor choices our older children may have made which affected our lives.

Despite everything, may we all step back, take a breath, and let them know how much we love them. There’s nothing like a momma’s love. 💕

Then there are some of us who have lost beloved ones from this life—maybe a child, maybe a mother who was too young—it’s devastating for most who experience this. And for some I’m holding in my heart, this will be their first M-Day without that one.💔

What many don’t realize, that with every well-wisher’s joyful “Happy Mother’s Day!” greeting, we are taken right back to “that place” of loss and bewilderment—temporarily for some, and longer for others. Check out Chapter 13 in our book,When Loss Comes Close to Home, to learn helpful tips on how to navigate these times with compassion and care.

I am extremely blessed to have two children who are alive and well, and am so, SO grateful for our beautiful daughters and the families they have blessed us with. Sometimes we just have to make ourselves focus on the ones who are still with us, knowing that our departed loved ones are alive and well, living in Heaven with Jesus.

Although that may be an awesome reality, it doesn’t at all lessen the pain of their departure, but further drives the point home of cherishing who we DO have with us, and valuing them as much as possible.

All in all, let’s make an effort to show more appreciation to those we love so much. Give them an extra squeeze at night, say “I love you,” more often, and even show a little more patience with them.

Those of us who are bereaved mothers or children would give anything to hug our departed child or mother one more time. And we would encourage you to take full advantage of this season of life while you still can. 

It’s a privilege, an honor and a blessing to be a Mom. As the old saying goes, The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world, a poem by William Ross Wallace that praises motherhood as the preeminent force for change in the world. Best of all, from the Bible, Her children arise and call her blessed. Proverbs 31:28.

With love & gratitude for you,