Mothers are celebrating today, but for some women Mother’s Day brings tears rather than joy. It is for those women that I post my devotional today instead of tomorrow. My arms are full because two women placed their children for adoption. Many have empty arms for other reasons. Take a moment to offer love to someone who is hurting today.

 

2MefromHim Devotional

Mothers with Empty Arms

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5:4

Mothers do not always see Mother’s Day as a time to rejoice. I remember those painful Sundays well, standing alone while others received flowers in church, wore corsages, showed off the bright-colored offerings their children made in Sunday School. I was ready to give up my career to raise children, yet after a year of trying, I knew there was something wrong.

My parents named me after two aunts who never had children and it seemed that some familial problem might have something to do with it. Thus began our odyssey into the world of infertility. They never found the reason, but I know the Lord had two very special gifts for me.

After 30 years, I still remember the tears, the pain, the disappointment, as test after test revealed nothing, and yet every doctor knew something wasn’t right. I stopped going to baby showers. I cried when friends became pregnant. I was happy for them, but I wanted my own sweet bundle to hold and it wasn’t happening.

Then the Lord placed a woman in my mom’s Bible study group who had adopted children through a Christian agency in Texas. Nineteen months after we applied, we held our son in our arms, and 21 months later, a daughter. God answered our prayers and our hearts were grateful.

In order for me to become a mother another woman gave up her child. My overwhelming sense of love and gratitude toward those young women continues to this day. What amazing love to carry a child you may never see again. They chose life. I pray the letters and pictures I sent over the years have blessed them, but it cannot fill their empty arms. By their sacrifice, our lives are so much richer.

This Mother’s Day, remember those whose arms are empty. Offer a prayer for those who wait to be mothers, for those who sacrificed their own motherhood to give their child a better life, and for those who have lost children in some way.

Honor the women with empty arms and show them your love. Perhaps take them flowers and offer a prayer for their pain.

Motherhood is a blessed duty, but it often involves pain.

© Copyright by Norma Gail Thurston Holtman, May 11, 2017

About the author:

Norma Gail is the author of the contemporary Christian romance, Land of My Dreams, winner of the 2016 Bookvana Religious Fiction Award. A women’s Bible study leader for over 21 years, her devotionals and poetry have appeared at ChristianDevotions.us, the Stitches Thru Time blog, and in “The Secret Place.” She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Romance Writers of America. Norma is a former RN who lives in the mountains of New Mexico with her husband of 40 years. They have two adult children.

Connect with Norma:

Website: www.normagail.org

Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/Norma-Gail/e/B00ILHXBAK/

Book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQbZIoC_JSE

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LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/norma-gail-thurston-holtman/42/71a/3b2

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Book Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Land-My-Dreams-Norma-Gail/dp/1941103170