Mother’s Day

“Mothers who are hurting do not feel envious, spiteful, or resentful of other mothers who are hurting.” –Carol Kent, “Laying My Isaac Down”

The other evening I walked with a friend to the parking lot of a church where we had just participated in a community Bible study. As we walked, my sweet friend shared how she and her husband had made the painful decision to admit their young adult son into drug rehab. The son, legally an adult now, had agreed but it was not an easy decision for any of them.

My friend spoke of the knot in her stomach and ache in her heart. I understood. Though none of my children have ever had problems with drugs, there have been other types of problems which helped me earn my membership in that special club—the “Hurting Mothers Club.” As my friend told of her pain, the quote at the start of this blog came to my mind.

Mothers who are hurting are a select group. To have been a part of that group is a badge of honor. It’s like earning a purple heart in battle. It means you have fought in the trenches alongside your also hurting son or daughter. You have shared their burden and your pain has in some small way eased theirs. At least they knew they were not facing their problems alone. 

So, I was moved to write this post to encourage all the hurting mothers out there. I am blessed now to have enough distance between the situations that caused pain to me and my precious children (yes, I’ve been there more than one time with more than one child) to have seen God’s faithfulness, His power, and His healing hand.

Hang in there sweet, hurting mother; whoever you are. God hears your prayers. He loves your child more than you do. He loved them enough to give them you to hurt along with them. 1 Corinthians 13:7 says, “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” This Biblical explanation of love perfectly describes the kind of love God has placed deep in the hearts of mothers.    

“The joy of being a mother is so closely linked to the sorrow of being a mother that it is holy ground.” –Stasi Eldredge from her book “Captivating”

The Quotable Susan

Quotes for Mother’s Day

 

“Mothers who are hurting do not feel envious, spiteful, or resentful of other mothers who are hurting.”    -Carol Kent, from her book “Laying My Isaac Down”

   

“The joy of being a mother is so closely linked to the sorrow of being a mother that it is holy ground.”  -Stasi Eldredge, from her book “Captivating”

  

"Motherhood is a joyous time in life when you get to explore all sorts of things and have fun teaching your children what you have just learned.”  -Debbie Speedy

  

“My son said he was embarrassed to call and let me know he had stayed after school to lift weights because there were other athletes in the weight room, as well as the coach. I told my son, ‘I have earth shattering news for you–all those guy and even the coach have a mother!” -Susan Siami

 

“A hundred years from now it will not matter how much money I had, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.”

 -Forest Whitcraft

 

 

Quotable Susan

On Family:

“Except the Lord build a house, they labor in vain who build it.”  Psalms 127:1

In high school one of Susan’s son’s did not call her to let her know that he was going to stay after school and lift weights. When she scolded him for not letting her know where he was, his defense was that the only phone available to him was in the coach’s office and as he put it, “all the guys and even the coach were in there.”  Susan’s response to her son was, “I have earth shattering news for you. ALL of those guys and even the coach HAVE A MOTHER!!”

-Susan Siami

“I finally came to grips with the fact that my life was not my mother’s fault.”

  -Gina McQuellan (friend)

“I told my daughter, ‘we love each other in this house; whether we like it or not!’”

-Alisa Smith (my sister)

“My true brothers are those who rejoice for me in their hearts when they find good in me, and grieve for me when they find sin. They are my true brothers, because whether they see good in me or evil, they love me still.”

-Augustine

“Life is not about avoiding the storms.  It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”

 -unknown