Posts Tagged ‘motherhood unseen’
For When You Relive a Traumatic Birth
Author’s Note: My first son was born almost fifteen years ago after a two-day, induced labor because I had severe preeclampsia. I was in and out of the hospital over the course of a month, finally spending a week in the high-risk section of the labor and delivery wing before they induced me. My second…
Read MoreA Prayer for the Mothers Who Have Lost a Child
Abba Father, Our eyes are filled with tears, our bodies are weary, our hearts are angry, and we’re just so sad. We can’t seem to put together the incomplete pieces of a life that is so broken without our children. Lord, help us to remember that You hear our cries, You see our tears, You…
Read MoreA Prayer for a Mother’s Anger
Abba, It is so easy to give in to the tension creeping up my neck, the tightness in my throat, and the hurt I’ve burrowed down deep. But what is not right is to unleash this hurt, these emotions I need to rightfully process with YOU, on my tiny humans. You don’t give me more…
Read MoreConfessions of an Angry Mom
A little hand reaches up to the counter, and papers flutter to the floor. While I restack them, a chair is pushed over. Maybe even a plant. Something in me starts to tighten and grow, a tense little ball of fire. Words spill out, but they are useless; they clink to the floor. My preschooler…
Read MoreA Prayer for Autism
Creator God, Lover of diversity of all kinds, all made perfectly in your image. Remind me daily how perfectly we were made imperfectly. Help me. Help me ride the tides of my son’s moods. Help me savor the moments when his autism allows him to be as calm as the smallest waves, gently lapping over…
Read MoreOur Lady of the Living Room Floor
By the low light of the baby monitor, she removes her makeup and recalls the shining successes of her friends as they gathered around the table that night: their new jobs and promotions, the annual review meetings, the conference next week in California. At the far end of the table, she’d sat silently recalling her…
Read MoreSupporting Yourself (Or A Friend) Through Miscarriage
Miscarriage may be the most tragic or traumatic loss you have faced thus far. You might feel resentful or depressed; you may be struggling with your faith or in your marriage. You likely do not want to hear anyone else’s opinion on your situation or your grief. But you still have to interact with others…
Read MoreThe Privilege of Friendship
Gathered around the familiar multi-purpose, formica folding tables, I was the youngest of the group by at least ten years. Thursday Bible study had become a treasured time because of the insight, wisdom, and humor that these wiser women shared with me. One day, as a new session began, some younger women invited me to…
Read MoreCount Your Crosses: The Graces of Fortitude and Perseverance
The cold had run its course through our whole family, taking down each man, woman, and child for days at a time, eating up the entire month of March in early 2011. While everyone else recovered, even five-month-old Teddy, Fulton struggled, weak and congested, long past the point when the other four were back to…
Read MoreArm the Children
Arm the children Arm them with a passion for life and each other. Arm them with gorgeous humans who consistently show up. Arm them with some sort of relationship to the Divine. Arm the children with beautiful experiences and honest ones, too. Arm them with gratitude, an ample dose of optimism and hope, the ability…
Read MoreLoneliness, Jesus, and My Mothering Spirit
I fell apart in my kitchen a few nights after another school shooting that left children and teachers dead. My kids were asleep, and I was washing the dishes when my tightly leashed emotions finally broke free. Anger, grief, and hopelessness washed over me and my soapy, shaking hands. The weight of the vocation of…
Read MoreMotherhood is a Prayer Breathed Out
Something I believe. . . Motherhood is Weighty and wonderful, Sometimes monotonous and boring, But also exciting and spontaneous, While being grievous and frustrating. It’s both stretching and structured, Straightforward and confusing, Tiresome and energizing, Painful and healing, Draining and lifegiving, Hopeful and despairing. // It’s playing the long game Though your finish line will…
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