Mother's Day Part 1 - Thoughts and Prayers

Normally on Mother's Day, I'm finishing up a school year, getting excited about this cute new boy that I just had my first date with (my husband, duh!  Our first date was May 7, 2008), and rushing out to get the perfect card or gift and get it in the mail by Wednesday.  But this year, due to my blog addiction and people around me going through different situations, I've also been thinking about those whose Mother's Days are completely different from mine.

Some are bittersweet, the first after the loss of a mother or wife, filled with sadness and sweet memories.  Some are a miracle, due to having baby who has a congenital medical condition, or after a long battle with fertility issues.  And some are incredibily painful, after the loss of a child, or because they are currently walking through infertility.  (Sidenote: I do not personally know either of the authors of these blogs, but I know people who know them, and I keep up with them and think about them and pray for them often.  Is that creepy?  Hope they don't mind! :) )

Also, I am usually a bit more sensitive about these kinds of things, but Friday was a busy and crazy day at school.  With only 20 minutes left in our day before our Spring Singalong, I remembered that we should probably do something for Mother's Day!  So as I hurriedly grabbed construction paper and told the class that we're going to make cards for Mother's Day, one of my student's face dropped.  His mom has not been involved in his life, and has been in and out of jail (and currently in).  He does have a grandmother and a lady who helps his dad with him, which of course is not the same.  I told him he could make a card for either of them, or for another teacher in the school for Teacher Appreciation Week.  He ended up reading and laughing with a friend, so that worked out. But as that child, how heartbreaking (and annoying) it must be to go through this every year.

This year will also be hard for the Flowers family, who (whom?) many of you have heard of.  They are four boys who lost both of their parents within three months.  I taught Tyler this year, and Brandon a few years ago.  They are now living with their grandmother in Colorado.  You can read about them here.

So even though I rejoice this Mother's Day in the fact that I now am a mom, and that I have four wonderful "moms" in my life, my heart has been a little heavy this weekend as I think of what this day means for so many others.  I lift them up in prayer, and pray that their weekends are filled with comfort, peace, memories, hope, and joy.