The glory of limping

Sometimes I feel like I’m limping ~ one foot here, one foot in heaven.

This weekend is Mother’s Day around here, and honestly there is a lot of hype, especially in the circles of moms online where I glean a lot of sweet fellowship. Personally, I could take it or leave the hype with Mother’s Day: I’m like that with most Hallmark Holidays though… I’m more of a church calendar holiday type of girl. ^_^

That being said, at the same time: I get it.

I am a mom.

I have a mom.

I have a mother in law.

I have a grandma.

I have sisters-in-law who are moms.

I have friends who are moms, who are more like sisters than friends.

 

So I understand the joy and privilege and beauty of a holiday like this.
I understand that we should rejoice in the reminder of honoring and tangibly loving these women who have (and do!) sacrificed so much. It reminds me of a quote in a frame on my daughter’s bedroom wall by Anne Bradstreet:

You had a Dame that lov’d you well,
That did what could be done for young
And nurst you up till you were strong
And ‘fore she once would let you fly
She shew’d you joy and misery,
Taught what was good, and what was ill,
What would save life, and what would kill.
Thus gone, amongst you I may live,
And dead, yet speak and counsel give.
Farewell, my birds, farewell, adieu,
I happy am, if well with you.

 

So I love that I not only get to honor the moms in my life, but that I also get the icing-on-the-cake joy of receiving some of that special honor for Mother’s Day. Mostly, though, I love the reminders that being a mom is an incredible joy and privilege. That it can so easily and quickly be taken away in less than the blink of an eye. Not only my own experiences with the frailty of life, but also things like reading here and here brings exhortation and encouragement to my heart to keep my balance on reality. To focus on Grace. To bask in the joys.

Most of my children are singing in the choirs of heaven.

Some of my children are singing here with me.

BOTH are a joy and privilege.

 

So as I limp through Mother’s Day, with one foot on earth and one foot in heaven… some of my olive branches here and some of them there… I will choose to rejoice. Because it’s not about me. It’s not about what I want or what I choose or what I control. It’s about gifts and grace and glorious humility ~ from God my Father.

I will wear my necklace that has all of my babies’ names on it. I will write all my babies’ names together. I will give pictures of my living children to their grandmas and great-grandma. I will praise God for giving me the incredible and undeserved gift of being a mom to living children. I will praise God for choosing me to be a humble vessel that held babies that went straight to His presence.

 

I know that many of you who read my blog also have one foot on earth and one in heaven (and some of you are moms to children in heaven without yet having children here in your arms). So what will you do as you limp through Mother’s Day this year?? How will you remember the joy and the privilege of being a mommy to whatever child(ren) the Lord has seen fit to give you? How will you honor and love the mothers in your life for the sacrificial blessings they have bestowed upon you (when you’ve seen them, and especially when you’ve been blind to them)?

And in the meantime, just know this: you will be in my prayers.

I’m praying that I would reflect on the glory of this limp. I don’t know what it’s like NOT to be a mommy of children in heaven. And I want to be thankful, praising God, for the glorious ways of His perfect plan even when I don’t understand all its details. I want to see the glory of having one foot here and one foot there. I want to embrace it and love it and bless His Name for it.

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