Who and where would we be without mothers? It all begins with them, doesn’t it? Chances are your story started something like this: In the womb, attached to your mother. You were tethered by a cord until you were ready to emerge into a world where that connection charted your course, either giving you security or sending you adrift.
Mothers who get it—who really get it– give their children both roots and wings, a foundation and freedom, an anchor and sails on a windy sea. Then there are mothers, whom for their own reasons, hold on tightly for too long or worse, not at all. The moms who skillfully strike a balance, who swear to their own hurt for the sake of their children, who listen and advise without selfish motivation, model God’s perfect love and infinite grace. These kinds of moms should be celebrated every day of the year. If you’re the son or daughter of this sorority of women, consider yourself more than lucky. You are blessed on this Mother’s Day.
For some of us, if it weren’t for strong, self-sacrificing and selfless mothers, we would be an entirely different person. Perhaps painfully spending our adult lives recovering from our childhood, flailing and drifting from one place or person to another. Simply put, unanchored. To err is human, even for the most well-intentioned parent. Where people fail or fall short, including mothers, faith can stand in the gap, helping us to persevere and overcome. When we’re anchored in something greater than ourselves—even greater than family— we can believe in the one who gave us life. When the motives of someone as significant as a mother don’t align with our continued growth and prosperity, we can trust in God’s promises, we can still have hope.
“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and strong. It enters behind the curtain in the Most Holy Place in heaven, where Jesus has gone ahead of us and for us.” (Hebrews 6:19-20)
Whether you’re an unheroic momma’s boy or an abandoned foster child or the fearless daughter of a woman warrior, you are first and foremost, a child of God. The story of the prophet Jeremiah in the Bible teaches us that God knew our name long before he gave us to the one who would care for us.
“Before I formed you in the womb, I chose you; Before you were born, I set you apart for special work.” (Jeremiah 1:5)
On this Mother’s Day, honor the deep, lasting impact of the woman who gave birth to you (or the one who was divinely assigned to raise you). Yes, celebrate the person who has looked upon your sweet face, prayed for your safety as you set sail in life, and then willingly answered the call to be your anchor rode yet not The Anchor. Celebrate the mother who humbly recognized she would be the consistent line, the connective tissue, the loving thread that runs throughout your story, but not the master of your fate or the captain of your soul. Faithful moms know how to lovingly support and encourage us while trusting in The One who will always keep us long after she has to leave us. Without her, who or where would we be?