Every Bitter Thing Is Sweet

"On a weekend when women stand and are celebrated for that glorious mundanity which is motherhood, there are just as many sitting beside them whose hearts are sunk. The one who lost her baby this month and the other who’s logged years — not months — trying to conceive. The mama whose husband died or isn’t around to rally those troops to celebrate her and the other who has fostered children into a forever-mama’s arms but has none, yet, of her own. The single woman who wonders, on this particular day, if femininity has to be tied to offspring, and the mother — adopting — who has no stretch marks, only paperwork, to show for her pursuit. They share the bench of our pews." -Sara Hagerty, Every Bitter Thing Is Sweet

When I read this on Sara's blog this week, I was reminded that Mother's Day is not always the glorious sentimental day that every woman looks forward to. For some, there is real pain in the moment and for others, pain in the remembering.

But as Sara points out, there is also beauty in the honest vulnerability of brokenness. Not one of our tears is lost on Him. God does not look away, He leans in. In fact, we are often on the threshold of discovering a deeper Him through our aching.

Today, by His grace, I am a mother of 3 but at one time, I was the women who had logged years, not months trying to conceive. I have fostered children, only to give them back to another mama. I was a 28 year-old single women who wondered if she would ever get married or have children. And I, too, have been that woman without a baby growing inside of her belly but instead, in her heart, completing mounds of paperwork and traveling half way around the world, in pursuit of adoption.

But if we allow Him to, God redeems our stories. He uses our circumstances to shape us and refine us into who He created us to be. And it's often in our weakness, we begin to see His greatness and His plan and purpose for our lives.

For each of us, I believe our greatest testimony begins to form through our most vulnerable stories.

Today, I'm especially mindful and grateful that three of His children call me mom. However, I'm also reminded of women who are hurting.

Who can you remember and take time to encourage as they're going through their own vulnerable story?

Who can you give hope to today?