“A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.” Ecclesiastes 3:4
Firsts
This past Mother’s Day I thought of two friends in vastly different ways. I was dancing and laughing (okay, I was crying tears of joy) for one of them, as it was her first Mother’s Day with her beautiful new family. The other I was weeping and mourning for, as it was her first Mother’s Day without one of her dear sons. It was the same day, and yet it was celebrated so differently. My heart celebrated with one, and grieved with the other—as it should be. I prayed that God would touch them both deeply—that He would magnify the beauty of one and minimize the horror of the other.
I also felt immense gratitude—not only were my three children alive and well, but my mom was also. She had been in a single car rollover accident, end over end, the weekend before (her first accident ever). Miraculously she walked away with a couple of scrapes and some bruising and soreness. God in His grace also took the memory of most of it away, so she has no fear—just peace. According to my atheist brother who saw the car: “Something had to have been with her—the car was completely destroyed except for the driver’s seat part.”
Of course, we know the “Something” was actually Someone, and my mom, myself and his daughter have all told him it was the Lord, which he has not openly acknowledged, but it has surely watered seeds in the prayerfully softening soil of his heart. My mom said, “I shouldn’t have lived through it, but maybe I did to be a testimony to bring him to the Lord.” This didn’t turn out to be her first Mother’s Day with both of her children as believers, but I pray the next one will be.
“Lord, thank You for being with us no matter if we’re in a time of weeping and mourning or laughing and dancing. Whatever firsts this Mother’s Day may have brought your ladies—joy, sorrow, gratitude, belief—I know You were with each one of them, wrapping them in Your arms every bit as much as You wrapped my mom in them. Amen.”
“The eternal God is your refuge, and His everlasting arms are under you” (Deuteronomy 33:27 NLT).
Thank you for this today. I also often think about how when one person is celebrating a victory or blessing, another person is suffering a loss or defeat in their life and I pray for both. Having gone thru many seasons with a prodigal child has made me more sensitive to others in that same situation. I love how God takes the worst seasons in our life and uses it for his good in some other way. And Praise God for protecting your own mom! What a testimony for others.