Dear Mothers,

You felt the long hours of pain that ushered you into motherhood. And I have to ask. Does the pain ever stop?

Because I’ve watched many of you. I’ve watched you weep, as you battle the lifelong pain of motherhood. 

I’ve heard you pray hard, because mothering means they never stop depending on you. 

That day comes when they depend only on your prayers. So this mother-love never stopped.

I’m not a mother, but I’ve watched many of you. I’ve studied the life of the mother of Christ. Mothering means a sword pierces through your own soul at times. A mother is there when her child is misunderstood and mistreated. A mother feels the piercing.

Mary stood by her son while He bled for her, but she wasn’t allowed to suffer more than she could bear.

Her son told John to care for her. John took her to his own home, and she didn’t see the end.

Because the Lord never lets us hurt too much.

I’ve also seen beaming motherhood joy. Mothering means a joy you can’t express.

Watching you has taught me that the sword piercing your own soul is often part of the joy. A mother naturally bears the pain with her child. It’s the way she loves.

And a mother can never love too much.

Watching a mother reminds me there is joy in loving, even when it hurts.

None of you regrets that first pain that meant you were a mother—the pain that never stopped.

How I see it, this is motherhood. Joy mixed with pain.

If a sword is able to pierce a soul that soul was allowed to love.

Motherhood teaches what it looks like to keep loving, even when it hurts.

Thank you, Mothers.

Thank you for expressing through your tender, motherhood joy a love that is too hard to put into words.

The love of God that looks like this.

Click here to listen to “Words for His Mother and John.”  [A lesson in the series on The Words from the Cross]