Mother's Day Prayers...

Last Sunday was a joyful holiday to celebrate with new moms and mothers of small children.  But I know of you teary-eyed grown ups for whom this was their first Mother's Day without their mothers.  And there were several women in our church who are undergoing fertility treatments who did not even come to worship this weekend.  Ladies, we pray with you.

Here is the Pastoral Prayer that Pastor Todd and I offered this weekend (thanks to my Leadership Academy colleague who shared this litany with me and then I re-shaped a bit for our worship.)  Even though Mother's Day is over... I still pray for my Mom, for my mothering, and all mothers in our community and world.

Let us pray...
"Loving God, as a mother gives life and nourishment to her children, so You watch over your people and your Church.  Hear as we pray on this mother’s day for the women among us:

To those who gave birth this year to their first child—we celebrate with you.

To those who lost a child this year – we mourn with you.

To those who are in the trenches with little ones every day and wear the badge of food stains – we appreciate you.

To those who experienced loss through miscarriage, failed adoptions, or running away—we mourn with you.

To those who walk the hard path of infertility, fraught with pokes, prods, tears, and disappointment – we walk with you. Forgive us when we say foolish things. We don’t mean to make this harder than it is.

To those who are foster moms, mentor moms, and spiritual moms – we need you.

To those who have warm and close relationships with your children – we celebrate with you.

To those who have disappointment, heart ache, and distance with your children – we sit with you.

To those who lost their mothers this year – we grieve with you.

To those who experienced abuse at the hands of your own mother – we acknowledge your experience.

To those who lived through driving tests, medical tests, and the overall testing of motherhood – we are better for having you in our midst.

To those who have aborted children – we remember them and you on this day.

To those who are single and long to be married and mothering your own children – we mourn that life has not turned out the way you longed for it to be.

To those who step-parent – we walk with you on these complex paths.

To those who envisioned lavishing love on grandchildren -yet that dream is not to be, we grieve with you.

To those who will have emptier nests in the upcoming year – we grieve and rejoice with you.

To those who are pregnant with new life, both expected and surprising –we anticipate with you.

And to those who care for the daily needs of their ill, aging, addicted or mentally ill mothers- we care for you. On this Mother’s Day, we walk with one another.  We acknowledge that it is by God’s grace that we are able to parent or mother at all.  In your mercy O God, hear our prayers.  Amen. "