Did you know that Congress made Mother’s Day a recognized holiday in the United States in 1914? This year we celebrate 100 Mother’s Days!!! I’m happy to announce that this will be my first Mother’s Day as a mommy!

Yes, even though my baby is still growing and developing inside my womb, I’ve been a mommy since this precious little one was conceived. I remember hearing people say that there is a strange, unfathomable love between parent and child. Even though I haven’t met this baby face to face yet, it’s amazing how fierce my love is already for this child.

As my husband and I pray over this baby daily, make preparations for the birth, arrange the baby

room, and do the best we can to read and learn as we embark on this adventure of parenthood, we know that, ultimately, we need the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Reflecting back to the first week of our dating days, I remember feeling a similar “ache” of dependency on the Lord as I prayed for the potential future of our relationship.

My journal entry after that first date says it best:

Thank you for leading me as my Shepherd. Papi, you are so kind and I thank you for the lovely lunch date Stefan and I had yesterday. My heart is glad… and smiling.

Just as you gave me peace to take this step, please give me peace for the next step as you will. Daddy, I ask you for loads of wisdom for Stefan and me and our families and communities. Please help us to follow you – not ourselves or what anyone else advises that doesn’t line up with you. Thank you for what you’re doing and I trust you.

That last paragraph could also specifically pinpoint what my prayer has been for us throughout this pregnancy… especially the last sentence: “Thank you for what you’re doing and I trust you.” I’d imagine that no matter what stage we enter (big move, new jobs, more kids, challenging circumstances, etc.) the themes here would be a relevant prayer: give us wisdom and peace for each step, help us to follow You not ourselves or others, thank you, and I trust you.

We all move through various season of life and are constantly growing and changing. Instead of being anxious about the upcoming season of change and unfamiliarity, let us remember that God will never leave us or forget us. WE are HIS children. I take comfort in this passage in Isaiah 49:15-16a:

Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands…

As we approach Mother’s Day in about two weeks, take some time to think about what kind of mother you are preparing to become. Spend some time in prayer asking God to shape and mold you now to get ready for the potential role of motherhood that you will likely step into someday. Even if you never become a biological mother, you could become an adoptive mother or spiritual mother to the younger generation as you grow and mature in your relationship with God.

We were created with a nurturing, maternal instinct that needs an outlet and there are many people you could bless with your God-given feminine nature.

This Mother’s Day, I invite you to not only celebrate the current biological and adoptive moms, but would you join me in celebrating also all you “future mom-to-be’s” who will love and nurture children of God (whether they were formed in your womb or in another woman’s womb!) whom He created so intricately and purposefully.

Lastly, I wanted to provide you a few websites you might consider browsing for gifts to celebrate your mom during this special time:

31 Bits

Amazima

Hand and Cloth

International Princess Project

International Sanctuary

Krochet Kids

Gospel for Asia