My mother died many years ago. I was eight years old. So every year, this weekend becomes a weekend of reflection. I think about what I lost. I think about what could have been. I think about the potential my mother had, and how different her life might have been if she had the right mindset, the right support, the right people, and the right systems around her.
And I know I am not alone in that complexity.
Some of us have beautiful relationships with our mothers. Some of us have complicated relationships. Some of us are grieving mothers who are no longer here. Some of us are grieving the mother we needed but did not fully receive. Some of us are celebrating wives, grandmothers, aunties, sisters, mentors, and women who stepped in and helped carry us when life required more than biology could provide.
So today, I want to speak to those who are mothers and to those who have mothers..
To the mothers: Thank you.
Thank you for bringing life into the world. Thank you for what you pour into your children. Thank you for the sacrifices people see, and the sacrifices people never see. Thank you for the way your love, labor, wisdom, patience, correction, and presence extend beyond your home and into the places where you work, serve, lead, and show up.
I am especially grateful for the mothers in my life, the mothers I work alongside, and the mothers who help shape our families, workplaces, and communities every single day. Your care does not stop at your front door. It shows up in how you lead, how you listen, how you encourage, how you serve, and how you help others become more whole.
And to those who have mothers, had mothers, miss mothers, or were shaped by mothering figures, I pray this day gives you space for gratitude, grace, reflection, and love.
Mother’s Day is one day on the calendar, but the truth is this: every day is Mother’s Day, even when we do not say it.
So to every mother, every woman who has mothered, and every person carrying the memory, complexity, or blessing of a mother’s love, I pray you have an extraordinary Mother’s Day.
Amen.