Mother's Day and Grief

This is for all my mom friends who have a love/hate relationship with Mother's Day.  Whether it's because one of your children is missing through death, miscarriage, rebellion, conflict or you miss your mother or you are struggling with depression - celebrating just feels too hard.   Though it is 20 years later, I well remember that first Mother's Day without Mark.  It fell on Mark's  birthday that year as well.  And all the Mother's Days since, some harder than others.

This year Mother's Day falls on Mark's birthday again so it is especially poignant.  And leading up to Mother's Day this year, we are busy preparing for the Spring Gala and Dessert Extravaganza celebration of the twentieth anniversary of MARKINC Ministries that will be held on May 9.  The upside of these preparations is that they give me opportunities to review how God is redeeming the pain of the death of our son, by creating a platform for us to offer the help and hope that comes from knowing Jesus.

Surprising Mark on his Sixteenth Birthday

While we celebrate God's faithfulness over the past twenty years, we also remember why we work so hard to produce and distribute resources that help turn hearts toward Jesus - because we were so desperate for someone to help us, to give us hope that one day we would experience joy again.  Now we are that someone, calling back to those coming along behind us.  We pray that our laughter, though often wrapped in hidden sorrow and longing for what was, will give you hope that you will laugh again, too.

I shared this post on Mother's Day, 2008, and again last year.  And since I'm especially busy this Mother's Day, perhaps I'm starting a tradition by posting it again in 2014.

Mother's Day - A Day to Remember

Since 1994 I have wished I could jump over Mother's Day. It's supposed to be a day of honor, remembering our mothers, being remembered by our children. But in May, 1994  remembering only brought deeper sadness and longing for what was. That was the first Mother's Day I experienced without our youngest child, Mark. Mark was born on May 11, 1977. He died in a car accident on July 6, 1993. The year of 1994 was a year of dreading every morning and every night. Mother's Day and his birthday all at the same time seemed more than I could bear.  [MORE - Mother's Day, A Day to Remember]

In His grip with you -
Sharon