Reflections on Mother's Day

In the past, I've never really given Mother's Day a lot of thought. Sure, I've always given my mom a card, maybe a little gift, and wished her a Happy Mother's Day, but I never really took any time to think about what this day may signify for certain people. This year, I have found myself somewhat caught up and self-absorbed in the excitement of this being my "first" Mother's Day. Thankfully, earlier this week, through a number of different vessels, God convicted me of this selfish attitude and I found myself reflecting and thinking of people who are in different situations than I this year.

So, while today I will celebrate my mother, my mother in law, my grandmothers, and many other mothers in my life ... I am also taking time to pray for those who come face to face with Mother's Day with feelings of pain, loss, apprehension, and fear.

Today...

I pray for the woman who is wondering when it will be her turn.
I pray for the woman who fears it will never be her turn.

I pray for the woman who wonders if she'll ever see two pink lines.
I pray for the woman who has been told that she may never see two pink lines.
I pray for the woman who is desperately waiting for the person who will someday make her a mother to come into her life.
I pray for the woman who is waiting for her baby to come home to her.
I pray for the woman who feels the pain of disappointment when an unwelcome monthly visitor arrives once again.
I pray for the women who is made to feel a sense of guilt and failure at not being able to give her husband a child.
I pray for the woman who feels the pain at having lost her baby due to miscarriage, disease, or accident.
I pray for the woman who wonders how she will feed and provide for her baby today.
I pray for the child who feels left out at school when the kids make mother's day crafts because he has no one to give his to.
Today I pray for all those who wake up on Mother's Day and feel a sting of pain, loss, and fear.

Prayer Vigil for Stellan

I know many of you are praying for Stellan already. If you haven't heard about him, go here to read about his story. Many of you also know that his surgery is coming up tomorrow. I'd like to organize a sort of prayer vigil for him, if possible. The goal is this: to have someone sign up to be praying for him at each hour of the day tomorrow. From 12:00 A.M.-11:00 P.M. on Tuesday April 21.

If you are interested, please leave a comment and let me know what hours you would like to sign up for. As the comments come in, I will post the person's name beside their time(s). I know doing this less than 24 hours before the surgery might make it difficult to fill the entire 24 hours, but I think it can be done!

12:00 A.M. - Jessi

1:00 A.M. - Emily M.

2:00 A.M.

3:00 A.M. - me

4:00 A.M. - my Fabulous Dude

5:00 A.M. - me

6:00 A.M. - Becky

7:00 A.M. - My Mumma

8:00 A.M. - Snow White

9:00 A.M. - The Reality of Happily Ever After

10:00 A.M. - Logi

11:00 A.M. - Shelley

12:00 P.M. - Snow White

1:00 P.M. - Emily M.

2:00 P.M. - Kim

3:00 P.M. - Mr. Fishy

4:00 P.M. - Me

5:00 P.M. - Caley

6:00 P.M. - Denise

7:00 P.M. - My Fabulous Dude

8:00 P.M. - Kristin

9:00 P.M. - Emily M.

10:00 P.M. - Emily

11:00 P.M. - S.

Let's plan to storm the gates of heaven with prayers on behalf of this little man, his mama and the rest of the family. If you feel so inclined, post a link back to here on your blog to get more readers involved.

Update: I am so thankful for the response to this prayer vigil. Within a few hours, we managed to fill all but one slot (2 am). Although, I know I was awake on and off all night praying, so I am sure he was covered in prayer throughout the night. They had a long rough, night. As of two hours ago, Stellan was being prepared to head into surgery. Be sure to check out MckMama's blog and/or Twitter to stay update. Keep praying.

A Lesson and a Grow-Op

First of all, thank you all so much for your encouragement, prayers and well wishes for my presentation last Friday. Unfortunately, it did not go as well as I had hoped. Of course, my nerves got the best of me causing me to stumble over words and get dry mouth syndrome (I'm really going to have to get that under control before my real defense!) My professors also asked me questions I did not expect and suggested way more changes than I anticipated. So, the task before me is daunting. I thought I was about this close to being finished my final paper and now I realize I am actually only about this close. I have a telephone consultation scheduled with one of the professors (the more approachable one) tomorrow which should be helpful. Needless to say, I was quite discouraged on Friday and came home with a very heavy burden weighing on me.

However, God spoke to me over the weekend and taught me a very important lesson. I have come to realize that even if I don't get an A in the class (which I likely still will), it doesn't really matter. I get SO caught up in it all so easily. But in the end, who cares? If I don't do well in this class, I still have a wonderful husband, fantastic parents and siblings, amazing friends and a supportive church family. I can still cook food, bake bread, scrapbook, pray, be a mama *someday I hope*, take care of my home, walk with my God, grow, learn, enjoy nature and the list goes on .... There are so many things that I enjoy and am good at that don't have anything to do with academics. And when it boils down to it, those are the things I want to cling to. This doesn't mean I will never get stressed about school again or that I am going to stop trying hard but I have gained a little perspective after a discouraging experience followed by an encouraging weekend spent with my mom, my husband and my church family. I have always been good at school but that is only one part of my identity and it does not, and should not, be all that defines me. I want to be first a child of God, second a faithful wife, a trustworthy friend, an encouraging sister.... My academics/career comes so far behind all of those things and I am slowly learning that.

"Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things". - Col. 3:2.

On another note, we have a sweet little grow op set up in our laundry room. Gardening season is fast approaching and so we've recently started our tomatoes in doors in hopes that they will be strong enough by mid-May to be transported outdoors. Last year we bought tomato plants but this year, we decided to try from seed. This year we are the fabulous dude is planning on increasing the size of our garden so we can enjoy more fresh veggies when the harvest comes. Maybe this year I'll be a better helper.

Prayer Request

This is my second post of the day, something I don't normally do, but there is something I must share. Please take a moment to read this post and offer a prayer.

Earlier this afternoon I was informed that a friend of mine lost her sister in a car accident yesterday. Her father and two sisters were driving home from shopping when their car was struck by a drunk driver. Her younger sister (age 22) was killed and her other sister and her father are both in the hospital with critical but non-life threatening injuries. Clearly there is never a good time for this to happen to a family, but something about it occurring one week before Christmas makes it seem that much more difficult. Please pray for R and her mother, who were not in the car, as they deal with the loss of a sister and daughter and the recovery of the father and other sister.