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Let me tell you the tale of an Overwhelmed Mother
\nwho had a baby before she was ready, another one after a hurricane,
\nand one more within the same calendar year.<\/p>\n
Let me tell you that one day while her three charges napped,
\nshe looked at everything the diapers, the onesies,
\nthe stroller she could never figure out
\nand felt Overwhelmed.
\nFelt incapable.
\nFelt hopeless.<\/p>\n
Let me tell you about how she wanted it all to end.
\nHow she was literally a knife-edge from making it happen.
\nHow she cried on her bathroom floor holding a paring knife to her wrist<\/p>\n
But then\u2026
\nHer husband found her.
\nBut then he called a Kind Mama,
\nthe associate pastor of their church to help his wife.<\/p>\n
And even though this woman was not her biological mama,
\nshe nurtured our Overwhelmed Mother.<\/p>\n
She held her and rocked in her strong, sure arms.
\nShe told the Overwhelmed Mother not to worry if postpartum depression
\nstands at her door waiting to devour her,
\nshe would not let it happen.
\nShe would protect her,
\nlike a good Mama does.<\/p>\n
She then called the Overwhelmed Mother\u2019s doctor,
\na single thirty-something to ask,
\n\u201chow can we care for this Mother? What can we do?\u201d<\/p>\n
And that doctor said, \u201cPut her on the phone. Let me talk to her\u201d
\nand while the Overwhelmed Mother wept chanting
\nagain and again, \u201cI just can\u2019t do this anymore\u201d.
\nThe doctor whispered kind words, confident words, patient words.
\n\u201cYou will be ok.
\nYou are not alone.
\nThis is not your fault\u201d
\nher words created a receiving blanket of assurance around our Overwhelmed Mother.<\/p>\n
And though she did not give birth to her, the doctor was a Sweet Mama to our Overwhelmed Mother.<\/p>\n
And let me tell you about another woman, another Mama.
\nThis time a woman who found out that she could not have children
\nwhen she was just about the Overwhelmed Mother\u2019s age.
\nShe thought of the Overwhelmed Mother as her own daughter, though.
\nWatching her grow from curious child in Sunday School
\nto a leader of the youth group,
\nto married to an urban missionary,
\nto Overwhelmed Mother confessing that she wanted to take her own life.<\/p>\n
When she found out about the knife and the crying
\nshe sent cards with Scripture and left messages of encouragement
\nshe sent money to lighten financial burdens and called to check in<\/p>\n
But most of all, she prayed.
\nEvery day for the Overwhelmed Mother.
\nShe was a Fierce Warrior Mama.<\/p>\n
And let me tell you about the Overwhelmed Mother now.
\nShe\u2019s tries to live every day as kind, sweet, and fierce as the Mamas in her life.<\/p>\n
She tries to honor the instinct to care for others in every woman she meets.
\nShe tries to remember that she is not \u00a0blessed, called, or special simply because she is a mother.
\nIt\u2019s true. She may be an oft-overwhelmed mother, but she\u2019s many other things too. Good thing the mothers in her life has prepared her well, because in all things she moves through this world with kindness, goodness, fierceness.<\/p>\n
She tries to honor the ways men in her life lean into their vulnerability
\nand nurture those around them.
\nShe thinks this is a gift from God who is both Father and Mother.<\/p>\n
But most of all..
\nShe tries to hold days like Mother\u2019s Day lightly.<\/p>\n
Because on weekends like this something else waits at the door to devour\u2026
\nDivision and Isolation<\/p>\n
So, I\u2019ll resist it with all I can because I was once an
\nOverwhelmed Mother.<\/p>\n
I know the darkness and the lies.
\nI know the severe stillness of isolation.<\/p>\n
So, I\u2019ll be as Kind as my Mama Diane and say to those of you who mourn because you cannot have or have not had a baby
\n\u201cI will not let the pain devour you. I will hold you and protect you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll be as Sweet as my OBGYN and say to those of you who feel like motherhood is swallowing you whole
\n\u201cYou will be ok. You are not alone. This is not your fault\u201d<\/p>\n
And Finally, I\u2019ll be as Fierce as My Mama Missy and say to those of you who need it
\n\u201cI\u2019m praying for you. I\u2019ll fight for you. I\u2019m here for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I will resist division. For you.<\/p>\n
This Mother\u2019s Day.
\nAnd Always.
\nShalom,\u00a0 my Sweet Sistas,<\/p>\n
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