Moms With Hope
A few months ago I received a call inviting me to speak to a group of mothers who had all lost children. I accepted the invitation feeling that I could glean from my personal experience to lend some words of encouragement. The day arrived this past Sunday. I walked into an old historic tearoom and saw women of various ages sitting around elegant tables talking in hushed voices. A sobering feeling hit me. I knew I wouldn’t be delivering just any ordinary message because this wasn’t an ordinary crowd. This crowd had collectively experienced so much pain that I felt extremely inadequate so I quietly prayed God would give me the words He wanted them to hear. Looking around at their faces, I noticed some were somber, others smiling. I asked a few to tell me their stories. This might have been a mistake, I’m not sure, because the grave reality of the women in that room weighed heavy on my heart, each mom was one child less. Some told their stories with a smile, reflecting on their deceased child and speaking of the love of Christ. For others, tears immediately spilled forth. I was reminded that I have never been alone in my journey, each one hurt as much as I did. Sometimes that’s hard to believe. What amazed me most were the women whose children have been gone for over 30 years. With watery eyes they still spoke about their loss like it happened yesterday. Why did I think they wouldn’t? Does time make your children less valuable? After talking with the moms I began to see more and more the powerful, devoted and vigilant heart God strategically places inside a mother. It’s a miracle really. Her children are forever sacred to her heart, whether on Earth or waiting in Heaven.
It was my time to speak. I felt very unworthy to be standing in front such a valiant group of women, yet I knew God had placed me there so I encouraged them on things such as trusting God, keeping an eternal perspective and remembering we have hope. I witnessed the wiping of tears, bitter faces that looked away when I looked into their eyes (they’re still working on understanding it all… that’s okay, God isn’t threatened), and smiles of hope. I offered my best and sat down feeling satisfied that maybe, just maybe someone was encouraged, and my story slapped the devil around a bit. I believe it did. Later the sweet lady serving my tea whispered to me that ironically she, too, had lost a child. She didn’t seem upset. I offered to pray for her anyway. Then the tears came. She quickly erased them as if they never existed, but God and I knew they did. It reminded me all the more that you never know what someone is carrying in his or her heart. I was glad I took the moment to reach out to her. Before I left mother after mother approached me. They told more of their story, I prayed and hugged each one.
Last Sunday was a day I will never forget. I will carry a piece of those precious, warrior ladies in my heart. It was one of those cherished times when God tangibly revealed to me once again how He is taking what the enemy meant for my destruction and is using it for my good. I was able to offer hope. And I am confident many took it.
Whatever you have walked through, place it in the hands of your Heavenly Father. He will turn it around. It can benefit your life and others in ways you never imagined!
2 Peter 3:8 “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.”
I will see you soon, H!
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Invest in You
I am a big believer in investing in others. What you pour into another’s life is the one commodity that will be yours for eternity. But here is the flip side: Is it okay to invest in yourself too?
This year all three of my kids went off to school. For the first two months I didn’t know what to do with myself. My routine was off, and I felt like I was having a readjustment phase. There were all sorts of things I could do. I could go into the office more, clean my house more, meet with ladies more. The real question was what did I want to do? Of course that question went hand in hand with what God wanted me to do. As I prayed, thought and tried different things, I finally came to the conclusion that this was my season to invest a little into myself. This was my time to do some personal enrichment while still enriching others. So, I started going to the gym, started taking classes at a local art center and spending more time at home reading and studying. I won’t lie, I had to fight guilt. Doing something for yourself feels so—wrong. So, I fought back. I decided to keep doing those things anyway. Not long after, I realized how much I had been stealing the joy right out of my life by not taking the necessary time I needed for myself. I rarely gave myself large enough opportunity for the things I enjoyed doing. Truly, I didn’t see the value in it. I see the value now. Taking time for me—refreshes me. A refreshed me is better than a burned out me. I want you to see the value too. Take time to enjoy yourself. Make time for it. I think the lives of other people around you will benefit because you decided to enjoy yours.
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