#HonorALLMoms #Mother’sDay
Let’s cherish & encourage all moms on this special day by throwing some love to the women whose hearts ache.
Mother’s Day brings with it a sunburst of jubilant images on social media. The feeds feature smiling kids serving breakfast and cute babies dressed in their Sunday finest. Scrolling through the posts you read women heralding, “I’m so happy to be a Mom. It’s the best gift ever.” Places of worship kindly gift flowers and trinkets to moms. Pinterest serves up all sorts of ideas for crafty projects.
And these moms have every single right to be proud. To post pictures. To devour that breakfast in bed and to accept those heartfelt gifts. We love those moms.
But to some ladies, Mother’s Day is a stark reminder of what doesn’t exist & it is one of the most dreaded days of the year. Some moms don’t have a baby to hold. They don’t have a child to dress. And on Mother’s Day, these women are sometimes accidentally ignored.
Let’s change that. Let’s bring these women out of the shadows and into the light of love.
Who Are the Moms who Need Extra Love & Support?
- The invisible moms- the women who experience pregnancy loss.
Their babies died in the womb, but reside in heaven. The terminology used to describe that trauma, ‘miscarriage’ and ‘stillbirth,’ are deceptively simple terms that imply a slight medical procedure. But it’s not a medical procedure and it’s not slight; it’s the loss of a precious life that a woman cradled in her womb.
For some parents, this tragedy happens multiple times. And some of these women have no living children. All their babies were born straight into heaven.
- The dear moms- God bless their souls- who have outlived one or more of their children.
They put in the sleepless nights, tackled the pile of never-ending laundry, and miss- more than anything- the sweet, sweet embrace of their precious child.
- The hopeful women- those who yearn for nothing more than to be a mom.
But they battle infertility. Some have lost that fight. Now people constantly question, “Why didn’t you ever have kids?” Let’s pour some love on them.
On Mother’s Day these women might put on a brave, happy face or they might avoid any and all social settings. But Mother’s Day doesn’t disappear.
And you know what? We don’t want Mother’s Day to disappear either; motherhood is something to be celebrated. Life should be cherished.
This Mother’s Day let’s choose to love on all moms: the moms who have a precious baby they can hold in their arms, the moms whose sweet babies are in heaven, and the women whose heart desire was to be a mom.
How Can we Give that Extra Love and Support?
If you know a woman whose baby died in the womb, a woman who has lost a living child, or a woman battling infertility recognize her this Mother’s Day. Send a text message or a greeting card, make a phone call, envelope her in a hug, or send her flowers. Use the name of her child in your conversation. It brings women comfort when you recognize her little one.
If you are at a loss for words simply write, “Hey, I know this might be a difficult day for you. I just want you to know I’m thinking of you on this Mother’s Day. You are the Momma of a precious baby in heaven. I love and cherish you.”
How Can Places of Worship Can Honor All Moms?
Offer a discrete but extremely meaningful gesture by lighting a candle or displaying a beautiful flower arrangement in honor of all the women whose babies are in heaven and those women who battle infertility.
Perhaps write in the bulletin or announce, “The flowers in the sanctuary are placed in honor of all the moms whose babies are in heaven and all the women whose hearts’ desire is to be a mother. We love you.”
And sweet mother…if you are at an event on Mother’s Day and the speaker says, “Stand if you are a mother” by all means…stand…and stand proudly. You are a mother.
Mother |Noun | A woman in relation to a child or children to whom she has given birth.
Will you join us in making a cultural change?
If you are joining will you share this page or use the hashtag #HonorAllMoms on anything you share about Mother’s Day?
Learn More About the #HonorAllMoms Partners.
DID YOU KNOW? Each year in the United States 3,500 babies under the age of 1 die, 1 in 160 deliveries end in stillbirth, 1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage, & 1 in 8 couples battle infertility.
MAY PRAYER PROMPT CALENDAR
& this year I am so happy to offer you a May Prayer Prompt Calendar (created with the help of the amazing author Kelly O’Dell Stanley. Make sure to visit her page!) To download this calendar: click on the link below. It will take you to another page with a small picture of the calendar. Click this picture. Then the pdf version will pop-up for you to print!
May 2017 prayer prompt calendar
Please feel free to print & share this calendar with your church, women’s group, or any other organization so it can be shared with members.
#HonorAllMoms Copyright © 2015 Sarah Philpott