Birthmother's Day

Yesterday I celebrated my son's sixth birthday. Tomorrow I will be honored on Mother's Day. But it cannot go without being noticed that today is the day that bridges these two events together.

Today is birthmother's Day. It's not widely known unless you are a birthmother yourself or unless you have been given the gift of motherhood by a birth mother. For me, this day represents the connection between my son's birth and the gift of becoming a mother myself.

Mother's Day represents a celebration of life. I can say that I have come across this journey with many labor pains even though I never physically gave birth. For me, becoming a mother has truly been a process of understanding faith and God's sovereign plan. It has been a journey that bears scars for me, places that are still tender in my heart recognizing the pain of infertility. Make no mistake, I did not give birth to him but I have certainly labored long and hard, even wrestling with God and my own faith as I prayed and hoped and believed and waited for a baby.

I recognize this day, birthmothers day, as the reason I am a mother. When I asked God to give me a child it wasn't so that I could carry a baby in my womb, but it was so that I could become a mother. Even that idea was something I had to be willing to come to terms with, realizing I would not bear my own child and recognizing that God had a greater yes in answer to my prayer. 

There are some who will celebrate tomorrow in anticipation of becoming a mother. There are some who will not be  able to face the crowds and churches as mothers are represented yet they must remain seated with empty arms and a hole in their hearts. I know that pain all too well. I'm thankful that I remember it because it keeps me mindful of those who are still without their own children. There are others who will bear a different kind of pain, the empty arms they are left with after carrying a child they aren't raising or parenting or watching grow. 

Today is birthmother's day. I celebrate today because without it I would not be able to celebrate Mother's Day tomorrow. For those of you who bore a child you're not raising, thank you for choosing life. For those of you who are still waiting for your arms to be filled with the answer to your prayer, hold on. Seek God and His greater yes for you. Today and tomorrow are still reason for you to celebrate, even without a child of your own. God has a plan and it may be already working out for your good without you even knowing it.