Mother’s Day is a reminder to reflect on the love we’ve received from our mothers or women who have been a mother figure to us. Who have cared for us and nurtured us. It’s a day to celebrate them for all they have done for us. For some, today may be a reminder of a strained relationship, but whether you are close to your mom or not, we encourage you to recognize those who did their best to love you unconditionally. And if you are a mother, it is an opportunity to reflect on the honour and responsibility bestowed upon you and renew your strength, peace and joy in the Lord.

We pray that as you view the resources below, they will be a blessing to you and that this Mother’s Day will be a day of laughter, joy, peace and thankfulness.

Mother’s Day has special meaning to Grace and Joshua. When their mother suffered a traumatic brain injury, their roles were reversed, and the siblings learned to care for their mum. For Grace and Joshua, Mother’s Day takes place every day: as they help their mum with her daily routine, they are reminded that this is how she took care of them.

What Every Mom Needs

By Elisa Morgan – Our Daily Bread author, mother and grandmother

I can remember the moment I faced my neediness as a mom. While I’d certainly seen glimpses of my soul holes in the earliest moments of mothering, it was in this moment that the reality of my needs came crashing in. I was washing—yet again—my toddler’s sheets after she awoke from her nap and I discovered them wet. I balled up the bedding and trundled it down to the washer in our basement where, in an out-of-body moment, I watched detergent spiraling in an arc out of its box above my head. As my eyes followed the swirl of white powder, I realized the box was attached to a hand, and the hand to an arm: mine. I was hurling detergent around my basement. Without even realizing it, I’d lost control of myself. One chief question emerged in my consciousness: Why do I have to have all the answers? Why can’t I ever ask the questions?

Looking back I now refer to this moment as my “suds-slinging” moment. A moment when I faced a hard reality: I was a mom, the mom, the one in charge of all things concerning my children. In the months and years of mothering still to come, I would discover that even though I was the mom, I was still a child in need of help and hope.

I’m not alone. While each of us is grown and now in charge of the life and lives of others under our care, every mom is still a child. Sure, we’ll always be a daughter of our parents. But more intrinsic to our survival and success as a mom is our understanding that we are daughters of an eternal, all-powerful heavenly Father: God. God never intended for us to mother alone, but rather He comes alongside to guide us.

Isaiah 40:11 describes God as our shepherd, specifically to sheep who are mothers over their young: “[God] tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; and he gently leads those that have young” (niv). What a verse! In God’s very Word, He normalizes the need in all moms for a source of help outside of themselves.

When we grasp the spiritual reality that while we are adults called to care for our children, we are still children with access to heavenly help; we are empowered to be better moms. So what do children need? And how can understanding their needs help us understand our needs as moms?

Children need food. And a mom needs food for sure, physical and spiritual. Likely, the demands of small children—and sometimes several of them at a time—may make it next to impossible to spend gobs of uninterrupted time reading the Bible. Thus, many moms scratch such a pastime off their list. But every mom can find a few moments to take in snippets of Scripture. Daily devotionals lay out a bite-size portion for each day. A bite or two “counts”—and it really helps! Just as a flight attendant instructs adults to affix their own oxygen mask in an emergency before helping someone who might need assistance, so we moms need to feed ourselves first.

Children need love. And moms need to know we’re loved too. Unconditionally. No matter what we’ve done. No matter what we do or don’t produce in a given 24-hour period. The most overlooked, yet crucial truth of human existence is the reality that God, our heavenly Father, loves us. Love to a mom is like water to a plant. We can, and should turn to our husbands and friends and parents for love. But the only source that can provide an unending well of love for our mothering days and nights is God.

Children need freedom and forgiveness in order to learn and grow. And a mom needs to embrace her finite human status. Guilt is the gift that keeps on giving to moms. At every holiday. In all seasons. At every crossroads. No mom will do it all right. In fact, we’ll make mistakes. Tons of them. Just as children mess up in their journey to learn and grow, so will moms. The forgiveness we offer to our little ones comes from the forgiveness God offers. Only as we receive such forgiveness for ourselves are we able to extend it fully to others.

Children need to know they are not alone in life. And moms need to know we have a partner in parenting. Whether we’re in a thriving marriage, a less-than-satisfying union, or we’re single moms, we need to know that there is someone who comes alongside us to co-parent. God never intended for moms to parent alone. He comes into our world to carry our young, to guide us, to shepherd us as we shepherd our little ones.

In Luke 18:16–17, Jesus offers advice uniquely relevant for moms today: “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” As moms, we may willingly take our children to Jesus for His blessing and love, but we need to understand that Jesus also beckons the little child within us who still needs His care.

Even in our “suds-slinging” moments, Jesus sees us and loves us. Instead of turning away in our need, might we “let the little child” that is still in us respond to Jesus’s invitation to come to Him?

If you are a mother and on a long tired day, you’ve felt you could do with a little more appreciation or if you’ve ever wondered if all the things you do even matter, there’s good news : yes, they do! Hear what Andrea Chatlein, a mother of three has to say about how she finds encouragement in God.

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