Motherly Love Isn't Limited

How I remember and miss those early Sunday School years of Mother's Day. With styrofoam cups, pipe cleaners, glue, and some paper petals, we each presented our moms and grandmas with a "flower pot" that she always declared a masterpiece. After church, we headed to my maternal grandparents' house, where my brother, cousins, and I presented Mama Grace with our homemade creations. I can still remember my Aunt Kathy, in her blue dress and Mother's Day corsage, surprising Mama Grace with a beautiful flower.

Later that day, my other cousins and I would visit my paternal grandparents, exchanging gifts while sitting on the swing in their screened-in front porch, showering our Grandma with gifts since, just like this year, her birthday often coincided with Mother's Day.

As grateful as I am for that legacy and for a mom who still shares life with me, I feel a bit sad that those special days of my early childhood have gone by. I grow more thankful each day to have a loving mom, aunts, cousins, and the heritage of grandmothers who made a strong impression on my early years. I'm grateful to teach a large number of children and spend time with little cousins who fulfill my desire to invest in other young lives.

When God crowned women with the title "Mother," I believe those characteristics don't speak only of those who biologically reproduce and raise infants into lives of successful adulthood--but also to those who nurture, give, build others up, or make an effort for patience when they want to pull their hair out. As we honor mothers, grandmothers, mothers-in-law, may we also acknowledge and pray for those who:

*open their homes to foster children, knowing the journey won't always be easy,

*anxiously wade through the long process of adoption to rescue a child not of their own blood, but who will be loved as though they were,

*the grief of those who have lost mothers or mother-figures; moms who have lost their children, whether in the womb or on this earth,

*those who face anxiety over unexpected pregnancies and need prayer, support, and words of encouragement,

*those who have dreamed their whole lives of holding their own baby, yet feel the crushing weight of infertility,

*single moms, striving to do it all on their own,

*single dads, who so often take on the roles of both father and mother,

*parents facing the diagnosis of an illness or disability of their precious child, at any age,

*women who don't feel their own "biological clock" ticking, so they pour lavishly into the lives of children around them instead,

*the teachers who care about the little boy struggling with multiplication tables or the little girl who still can't tie her shoes,

*those hospitable women who plant gardens to offer fresh food, serve hot meals on their tables, or put fresh sheets in the guest bedroom to provide a tired soul a place to rest,

*the church volunteer who practices countless hours with the kids' choir, though their song might be slightly off-key and the rhythm half a beat behind.

The list is endless. God crowned women with both tenderness and strength, love that is affectionate yet tough. Extend that love to family today, but also to the behind-the-scenes people performing the overlooked tasks of nurturing those around them.

Cherish and honor those who have been a loving, motherly influence in your life. Then pass along that same nurturing and care to someone who might never expect it.

 By: Misty L. Butler
5/7/16