Mother’s Day is a beautiful day set aside to honor some of the greatest women among us. This day takes time to give praise and thanks for the ladies who gave us life and love. The celebration of the women who sacrificed more than any child will ever know. The moment we slow down, pause and appreciate. This day brings so many thoughts and emotions. What I have learned in my thirty-seven years of life is that not all moments that should make you feel good, makes you feel good. Life is very difficult. Life brings about pain and challenges every day that we have the choice on how we will respond to them. Life’s twists and turns can drive us closer to bitterness by default – but what makes humanity interesting is when bitterness turns to joy.

One of my favorite passages of scripture is Isaiah 61

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,^[a]
 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
    and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
     and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendor.

This passage reminds me of what Jesus quoted as His mission on this earth and honestly, what every Christian’s mission is: to proclaim good news to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim free for the captives, to give a crown of beauty instead of ashes… Days like Mother’s Day should be a great time of reflection – and every moment pondered with the eyes of grace. The Lord designed mothers to play a role that only they can, however, in life it is often that others are chosen to play different parts in different lives for such a time as this. Mothers are naturally designed to provide nourishment, safety, comfort and warmth. Mothers are designed to be the biggest cheerleader for their young. Mothers create gladness and calmness. Mothers bring peace, in the Name of Jesus. When a mother is missing – the Void is great. At any age.

I am beyond blessed to still have my darling mother walking this life with me. I am incredible blessed to have my most outstanding mother-in-love navigating this journey with me. I have been richly blessed to have a sister 17 years older than me that pretended to be my mother my entire life, until she was radically taken from us (in our opinion too quickly) in August 2020 due to covid. The Void she left is great. The Void she created is massive. The Void here takes 500,000 other women to even begin to fill. The Void of precious mothers gone before us feels great – too great to bear. But we as women must consider who we might be a “void-filler” for? Who has God asked us to be a “void-filler” for? Consider on this day to be one that delivers crowns of beauty instead of ashes. Consider on this day who you can assist in binding up or proclaiming good news to? Consider on this day who might need freedom – freedom from pain, from hurt, from past mistakes or from life? Be a “void-filler” to the woman desiring to birth her own. Be a “void-filler” for the lady needing to hear her hair looks amazing or her outfit is right off of the runway. Be a “void-filler” for the mother who needs to hear she is doing a GREAT JOB! Be a Ms. Shirly who reminded me last week that it is perfectly fine for my son to do puppet motions in front of the entire church as an act of worship. Be a “void-filler” with laughter and love today.