Can Mothers Adore Thee Un-Joyful?

Well, I think I’m as ready as I’m gonna be.  The cards are getting sent out late, but I have a little something for each child to unwrap on Christmas day and that makes me feel “ready”.  But I’m having a hard time with remembering mamas all over the world that not only have no gift to bring, but no child to gift it to.  I wonder how those mothers in Connecticut are doing….and those mothers in gang infested cities whose children are wooed into drug culture…and those mothers in Africa with nothing in the pot to stir to bring to their baby’s lips…and those mothers whose children are kidnapped, sold into slavery or killed by fanatics….and those mothers who feel their only recourse is to either expose their babies to the elements or to dump them into institutions where a meal might be served, but hugs and love will be lacking.  I’m thinking of mothers who deal every day with children with special needs, with children who are mentally unstable, with children whose hearts are either terminally diseased or eternally hard.  I am grieved for governments that terminate parental rights and otherwise break down the foundations of family.  I am sad for mothers whose babies were either killed or died before getting to be held in arms.  It’s the mothers I’m thinking of these days.

I know Jesus loves the little children.  Won’t He love their mothers, too?  Even if they are feeling unjoyful?  And, if joylessness is sucking mamas into a dark hole, will their lack of adoration cast them deeper into the shadows?  He who seeks for the lost sheep, won’t He reach into the pit for these mothers as well, who have no strength to look up?

I do believe that God in His goodness will bring about something redeeming from this madness that pains mothers because He ALREADY DID.  All of this sorrow, this heartbreak, this evil in the hearts of men (and , face it, of mamas too) and the decaying of society and family and His beautiful world…THIS is WHY He came in the first place.  And though the world still spins (His mercy and common grace keeps it so today), He has already pledged by His resurrection that He will return to set things aright once and for all eternity, and every mama that has repented of her own sins and put her faith in Jesus Christ will see on the other side of the veil the perfect results of the most vile sins because God will use them all for His glory and our good.  Somehow.

And don’t we long for Him more when in the mess?  And don’t we long to see justice done?  And don’t we lose even more of our love for this world and become more heavenly minded?  And…if Jesus *does* love the little children…are we not a little comforted that those children will never, ever, ever see or know pain ever, ever again?  To be with God…what could possibly be better?  And what a reunion that will be when mortal mothers meet their Maker as well.  Will their awaiting children run to their arms?  Will there be joy unspeakable?

But it hurts on this side of goodbye.  And while I long to bring a shoulder to every hurting mama, I can at least offer it to the ones near me.  The ones who have lost babies.  Stillbirths.  Miscarriages.  Run over. The ones who pain through trials with their babies.  Mental illnesses.  Physical diseases.  Wayward.

Maybe joy for these mamas comes not in the pain, but through the pain, where at the other end a new light dawns and a new mercy comes.   Maybe HOPE is the new joy.  Christmas is the response to the pain.  Easter is the cure.   (And no, I’m not just sharing this video because of the girl with Down Syndrome signing in it).

If your heart is hurting, may the Holy Spirit bring you a holy joy the world knows nothing of.  May your mama’s heart know His love, and may you put your trust in Jesus Christ this Christmas.  From one mother to another, O come, let us adore Him.