I wrote an Open Letter to all the mommas grieving on this Mother’s Day. If you know of a loss mom, would you please share this with her and pray for her? I want her to feel surrounded in God’s love, grace, and strength tomorrow.
Dear Momma (who has suffered miscarriage, stillbirth, infant loss, or child loss),
I see you. I see you trying to smile when everyone around you seems to have forgotten the loss you are grieving.
I see you quietly crying in your shower or your bedroom or silently in your heart.
I see you trying to navigate being grateful for your living child or children while also grieving your child who isn’t here with you.
Or, if you have no living children, I see you shut yourself in your home, knowing that having to say even a brief “hi” to another person is too hard to muster today.
I see you taking photos with your family, the whole time wishing you could borrow your precious child in Heaven just for a quick click of the camera, so that your family photo could be complete for once.
I see you struggling through the trenches of today, trying to enjoy the moments but also wishing the day could just be over.
I see you, Momma.
I see you and so does God.
He sees your sadness, your pain, and your grieving. He sees you crying. He sees your thoughts and how they bounce from joy to sorrow to joy and then back again to sorrow.
He sees you trying to put on a smile even when your heart is aching. He sees your gratitude for the living children you have. He also sees the pain you feel imagining what it would be like if your other child were here with you today.
Momma, I know that today is hard. I know how days like this can trigger more emotions than it feels like your heart can hold. And truthfully, child loss is more than your heart can handle on your our own, by yourself.
But, Momma, please don’t forget this: you’re not alone or by yourself.
God has stepped into our broken hearts. And he’s not just with us today on Mother’s Day. His love and presence is with us every day, giving us his grace and strength to carry us through the hardest times.
So today, Momma, while you’re bouncing around from thought to thought, emotion to emotion, wondering if how you are feeling is okay…just rest.
You can cry. You can scream. You can grieve. You can be sad. You can be angry.
But you can also be happy. You can celebrate. You can smile. You can cherish. You can even laugh.
However you feel, dear one, rest in the presence of the God of all peace and comfort. Rest in knowing that he has not forgotten you or your child. Rest in his grace which is sufficient for you. And rest in his love which gives you the hope you have in Christ.
Resting with you,
Jennifer