07 May The pain and privilege of Mother’s Day

“Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill His promise to her”
Luke 1:45

Mother’s Day is around the corner and our social media feeds are filled with competitions to win for you and your mom, special discounts and prompts for how you plan on spoiling on them.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love being a mom and I plan to change no nappies and clean no dishes on Mother’s Day, but in the commercial aspect of this day we have forgotten two things; the pain and privilege of a day like this.

I understand how privileged I am to call myself a mom and have children. After suffering from infertility for 5 years, being poked and prodded, operations, IVF’s and empty bank accounts – I never forget how very, very privileged I am. I am also privileged to have had an incredible mother for 26 years (whom I lost to cancer nearly 10 years ago), and a mother-in-law whom I love dearly for 11 years.

Now, the hard part is the pain, and I want to write and pray for all those women. The women we forget about while we’re all busy celebrating and not washing dishes.

So this Mother’s Day, let us take a moment and lift in prayer and possibly light a candle for these women:
For you, who have lost your mother and grieve
For you, who struggles with infertility and desperately want to celebrate this day
For you, who has a broken relationship with your mother/your child
For you, who has lost a child – no one should go through your pain
For you, who’s mother suffers from a loss of memory and remembering who you are
For you, who waits to meet your life partner and longs to have a family and a relationship
For you, the single mom who does it all and deserves a superhero cape
For you, who’s mother is unwell and your worry consumes you

Mother’s Day is to be celebrated and to spoil the mother’s and mother figures in our lives. But let us as strong, compassionate, Christian women come together to pray for the hearts of those that sit with pain and struggle on a day that magnifies their pain.

Blessed is she, just keep on believing!

Tamlyn Dennekamp

The last 10 years has had its hardships. Losing my mom (who was my best friend) to cancer, struggling with infertility for five years, and depression the last two. However, our God is one of miracles, healing and grace, and I’d love to share my experiences in a hope to help and or inspire anyone willing to listen.