Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Mother's Day: A Bittersweet Note

In a commercially driven society such as ours, retailers never miss an opportunity to lure you into their stores, into buying their products, and into needing another occasion to give a gift. With Easter just behind us, merchants are quickly selling off excess Easter-related products (sale! clearance!) and promoting the next gift-giving holiday: Mother's Day. Signs announce "Mother's Day gifts!" and "Get Mom what she wants" and "Make your mom happy" and so forth.

What if the only gift some moms want is their baby back? I remember Carrie saying after one of her miscarriages that every where she went, she saw reminders of her recent loss: babies in mother's arms, baby clothes, and the like. Many women are seeing fresh reminders of their loss as stores loudly proclaim "Mother's Day." I would like to remind those reading this blog to pray for women who've recently lost children--unborn and infants in particular. This will be a bittersweet season for them, particularly if they do not have any other children at home in whom to take comfort. Carrie wrote a terrific post a while back about part of her struggle. She reminded me today that those of us who are "spectators" to another person's trial or loss (in any area) often forget or "move on" after three weeks or so, but the person in the midst of the trial is still struggling and still needs encouraging. If you know a women who has lost a child--particularly if this will be the first mother's day since that loss--don't forget to pray for her and send her a word of encouragement during these next few weeks.

If you don't know of any personally, you might consider praying for one (or all) of the following--all of whom are friends of mine or sisters-in-law of friends of mine and all of whom have lost a child (or two) since this time last year:
  • Z in her third pregnancy this year--doctors aren't optimistic this time either
  • C's sister-in-law lost her 5 month old to SIDS 2 weeks ago
  • K's sister-in-law lost her baby at 37 weeks in August
  • B lost her twins mid-way through her pregnancy just before Easter

2 comments:

Carrie said...

Great idea for posting prayer reminders! What a great way to lift up those we don't know.

Julie Sanders said...

Thank you for that reminder. Mother's Day can be a bittersweet day for many, and it's a great time for us to wrap our arms and prayers around our sisters who have experienced deep disappointments.
- Julie