Infertile women worldwide are currently hovering in dread of the weekend. This Sunday is the Day That Shall Not Be Named. When all the moms in church are asked to stand and be honored, I will be tethered to my seat by the short cord that feeds electricity to the neon sign on my forehead flashing, "Not a Mom! Not a Mom!" Or at least that's what it feels like. Every year as the second Sunday of May approaches, I start to imagine scenarios that would excuse me from church for just that one day - sickness, vacation, or at least a sudden need for a bathroom break conveniently sandwiched between singing and the sermon. A long bathroom break. On the other side of the building.
But ladies, we have a better escape route than running away from the Day That Shall Not Be Named. Can I paraphrase 1 Corinthians 10:13 for us? No temptation to self-pity, envy, or anxiety has overtaken you that is not common to women (yes, even the fertile ones). God is faithful, and he will not let the second Sunday in May tempt you beyond your ability, but on the Day That Shall Not Be Named he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure even a holiday that puts the spotlight on your heartache and yearning by celebrating the women who have what you don't. That way of escape looks different for each of us, but I can tell you this: I'm going to run to Jesus, and not to the ladies' room.
15 comments:
Great post! I love the paraphrase!
Love it! Thanks for this...
*sigh* I avoid this day as much as possible..having a wonderful mother and mother in law...it is hard. And yes, church is the hardest. Running to Jesus too, maybe a pitstop in the ladies room to fix my make up though :)
Great post, lotsa prayers!
I take such encouragement from your posts. Thank you.
May God bless you this weekend.
Very encouraging post. It's always good to be reminded that God's grace is sufficient, no matter the situation.
Great post!
I really just wanna know, why does mother's day still have to be held on a Sunday?! It is not a religious holiday! Blech!!!
And, why can't we just honor all Christian women, as spiritual mothers?!!!
Good post. I needed to hear that today, thank you for reminding me that Jesus is always there no matter what, he never lets us down.
This may be one of my favorite posts of yours yet. What application of truth!!! I've been praying for you this week as this particular weekend has come around. I pray that you would feel this neon sign posted on your head tomorrow morning: "Christ is giving me grace to endure suffering with joy!" as that is what you've been doing.
Love you, Andrea.
I have to respectfully disagree with you here, Andrea. In love though, in love! Please don't be mad!
I don't think it's wrong to excuse yourself to the Ladies' room when moms are being acknowleged in the service. Infertility is not always about being tempted to self-pity; there is genuine heartbreak and grief there. Part of standing up under trials (not specifically referenced in this verse but close enough) is making wise decisions about what situations you will and won't allow yourself to be in. If you were skipping church altogether, I'd question that. But stepping out for a moment to avoid something that truly presses a center of grief? I don't think that's self-pity.
It's easy to become caught up in legalism with stuff like this; I do it all the time. I want to be careful in my grief to remain faithful and to give glory to God no matter how I am suffering. But I firmly believe that God is not calling me to run into the fire shouting "Burn me! Burn me!" just to show how faithful I am. Make sense?
God loves you very much. And it could be that His way of escape is to allow you to remove yourself for a few minutes. I don't think that would be wrong, or make you less faithful, or self-pitying in any way.
I hope your day is good as you run to Jesus.
Flicka, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I wasn't trying to say that it's categorically wrong to avoid temptations; that's what I was trying to get at when I said the way of escape looks different for each of us. Whatever we practically do (whether it's to sit through that moment or to excuse ourselves), what matters is that our hearts seek refuge in the Savior (which I know you know!). Thanks for giving me a chance to clarify my thoughts a little more here in the comments!
Thank you for sharing your words of wisdom, heartache, and thoughts of running to the ladies room. :) I hope you don't mind, but I referenced your post today in my post. I was utterly dreading today (in a slightly different way) but was prepared for it and just let the tears come.
God be with you during your time of need and trials.
Okay, even on sports on the news all I see are people wishing all the moms a happy mother's day. It's time for me to go to the bathroom and get ready for bed. Ha ha. ;)
Thanks again for sharing. You are a blessing!!
This struck a beautiful chord with me yesterday morning. I too, do not want to run from this day. I've rarely ever had a hard time with it, but this year I anticipated it being tough. However, your encouragement to run to Jesus was great. Plus, I am SOSOSOSO grateful to have a living, brathing, Christ-following mother to be my friend today. I have SO much to be grateful for. That's what mother's day is about - every one of us here on earth has a mother, and that's something worth giving thanks for.
Thanks for the reminder and your example.
Thanks for your sweet comment on my blog. When the time comes, I probably will email you!
thanks girl.
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