Mother's Day - Not Just a Day to Remember Mothers

I awoke to smells of bacon, clanging sounds coming from the kitchen, and the scent of coffee wafting through the air.  Boy, Mother's Day sure is wonderful! 

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, anxiously awaiting the wonderful breakfast I knew had been prepared.  My nose led to me to the kitchen where I saw oranges, bananas, apples, and grapes sliced and arranged in a chef-like manner on a glass plate.  I saw the purple sunshades and straw hat that my little one had purchased for me, so that I didn't burn my noggin while out in my garden.  I saw the large Twizzler my other child had purchased for my intense sweet tooth and a beautiful little plaque, written out by my daughter in purple marker, thanking me for being her mom. 

What a day!  

I gobbled up breakfast, and as I headed back into my room to get ready for church, something on the dining room table caught my attention.  It was a myriad of pictures; pictures of my kids at various ages, all spread across one side of the table with a big "Happy Mother's Day!" written on a piece of purple tissue paper, slap dab in the center of the collage.  

As I stood there, admiring the beauty of the presentation, my thoughts went back in time.  I remembered the doctor telling me that I might consider "other options," because I might never have children.  I remembered the little ones that I had, but never held.  I remembered the heartbeats on the monitors and the hospital gowns and how awful I looked after delivery.  I remembered the pudgy hands and feet of my kids, and how huge the thighs were of one of them!  I remembered their first smiles...their great laughs...and then I thought about how big they are now - playing football and getting permits to drive.  

I remembered how much God had done in my life and in the lives of the little faces splattered across those pictures.  I remembered...

...And I was so thankful.  

I stood there, gazing intently over each picture and the one thought that pervaded my mind was, "You have been so good to me, Lord...so good."  

II Tim. 2:13 says, "If we are faithless, He remains faithful,

for He cannot disown Himself." 

 

Those pictures were a reminder of His faithfulness to me.  A collage of His proven care and provision in my life.  They weren't just about His decision to give me children and provide the things that I needed for them, but reminders of the times that He was so very faithful, when I was so faithless.  

 

Maybe you don't have pictures of kids to strew across your dining room table.  Maybe you desired nothing more than to hold a little one in  your own arms, and dread fills your Mother's Days or even Father's Days, for that matter.  Can I encourage you to do something? 

 

Find other pictures. 

 

God's faithfulness spans across our entire lives, weaving in and out of our joys and sorrows...our wants fulfilled and desires never met.  The Truth is, He has been faithful to you, my friend.  Even if it looks just the opposite. Even if everything in your life right now is a bundle of turmoil.  He has been faithful and is being faithful at this very moment...He really is - for even if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. 

 

You know, I think rather than picking up the pictures and putting them away, I might leave them scattered on the table for a little while longer.  Maybe that will help ME remember His continued faithfulness to me, when I can see it clearly...and even when I can't. 

Thanks God...for the gentle reminder that You have been good and faithful, even when I have been not-so-good and faithless.  Thank You that the way I feel has very little to do with Who You are...that You never change and that You have said You will never leave me or forsake me.  Thank You for being My God.  I love You.