The time has arrived to think about how to give special honor to our mothers this coming Sunday – or maybe to start dropping hints about being served breakfast in bed. But for some, this can be a difficult time of the year, a reminder of dreams and wishes unfulfilled, absentee mothers, or children or mothers who have gone home to be with the Lord.
When my parents got married, they wanted nothing more than to begin a family. As time passed, my mom felt pangs every time she saw a mother with her child. She fought against disappointment, then jealousy, then guilt for feeling that way even though she knew that God might be writing a different story for her.
Five years into their marriage, an opportunity came to adopt a baby girl – my parents were overjoyed! So much so that they gave my oldest sister the middle name, “Joy.” They were so grateful to pour all the love they had been saving up into their little bundle of joy. Four years later, another opportunity came to provide a loving home to a baby girl – my other sister. My parents felt so blessed by God’s answers to their prayers for a family.
“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” Galatians 4:4-5
My parents’ decision to adopt, choosing my sisters to be their daughters, giving them their family name, and loving them as their own, reflects the same choice God made when He made us His daughters. We are part of God’s family, the recipients of His unconditional love and co-heirs with His Son (Romans 8:14-17).
Many women have experienced or are experiencing the same feelings my mom felt as she wished for a baby when so many others got to carry on with life as usual. Maybe they haven’t had children or maybe they’ve lost a child, but they let their abundance of love overflow into the people around them. Let’s be sure to honor them as well this Mother’s Day.
Jessie Chamberlain
Family Radio Staff
P.S. But wait…how did I join the family? After sixteen years of marriage, my parents found out they were pregnant. Sometimes God can surprise you!