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Mother’s Day is approaching.

Your children will send a card, maybe take you out to dinner, or serve breakfast in bed.

You treasure being a mom. You’re not perfect, but you love your babies, even if that baby is 6 foot tall.

But Mother’s Day is bittersweet because of your own relationship with your mother.

It’s complicated and there are no Hallmark cards that describe how you really feel.

What do you do with the hurt in your heart over a childhood marked with verbal abuse?

How do you celebrate a broken woman who made you feel ashamed, rather than loved?

Maybe she’s changed, and that makes it even more complicated. You know that you can’t change the past, but you are waiting for her to acknowledge all the pain inflicted on you.

May I encourage you today?

First, may I celebrate this upcoming day with you and share how powerful it is that you have changed the destiny for your own children? That took courage and hard work!

Though none of us are perfect moms, the fact that you are intentional in your parenting is a beautiful gift to the next generation(s).

But second, let’s look at the more complicated aspect of this holiday.

When we are growing up, and our hearts are affected, we may see a person as all bad. Or a situation as all bad.

But what if we begin to step back and see that person or that time through the eyes of an adult. It doesn’t make the bad go away, but allows us to see through a lens bigger than our own experiences.

Maybe we see the brokenness that brought her to that place.

Or maybe it allows us to celebrate any moments, any efforts, any attempts to change over the years.

Perhaps it helps us to see those moments where she wanted to be a good mom, but didn’t know how. Or to see those moments that were good, in spite of the bad.

And if she has changed, it allows us to close the door on the past and fully embrace and celebrate who she has become.

And if it is all bad, and there are those stories that are so painful that it makes my heart hurt, then it allows us to see her from God’s advantage, a lost sheep in need of a Savior.

No, there is no Hallmark card for that.

But if we begin to look back through the eyes of an adult, and the picture broadens and hurt lessens, so we that we can fully love this beautiful day, that’s a miracle.

What miracle does God want to drop into your heart on this Mother’s Day?

 Being a mom (and a daughter) is both wonderful and sometimes hard. Here are a couple of great resources momiwanttobe1for you!

The Mom I Want to Be: Rising Above Your Past to Give Your Kids a Greater Future

This book has helped me heal from so many past hurts that I can’t help but wish I’d had it 20 years ago when I first became a mom. It offers so much wisdom and insight! I knew other women could use the help and healing, so I recommended to my Women’s Ministry leader that we offer a summer class to read the book and do the study. We had over 24 women signup and complete the study – 24 women who now cannot stop talking about the work God is doing in them through this book. Thanks to God, Suzanne Eller, and 24 women with open hearts, this has been a summer of healing, forgiveness, and growth as a mom. ~ Regina Marshall

MomsTogetherFB_Final

 

Moms Together: A Facebook community of moms led by Suzie and several other “mom-mentors” with encouragement, support, giveaways, and friendship.