Hello everyone!
Welcome to another round of Five Minute Friday! Such a treat to be with you all again.
If you’re new in these parts, go ahead and click over here to learn more about Five Minute Friday!
This week’s prompt is:
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Setting my timer for five minutes, and … GO.
I wavered back and forth.
To write a Mother’s Day post or not to write, that was the question.
I had the words mapped out in my head, but was it really worth drudging them all up to the screen? Would they really benefit anyone, even myself?
I decided to just boycott the idea of Mother’s Day, even though it’s nearly impossible to avoid, with every retail outlet imaginable trying to monopolize on the made up holiday. I planned to look away and let it pass by, unless I could get something out of it for my own benefit, like maybe not having to cook lunch on Sunday.
But then Lisa-Jo Baker went and wrote this post: When You Still Need Your Mom and She’s Not There Anymore.
And it was everything I needed, and more.
Nobody had to tell me how much I miss my mom, and yet it’s hard to articulate what exactly I miss, when it’s everything.
In my memoir revisions, I spent this past week re-working the chapters about my mom’s funeral and the visitation that followed. And I remembered afresh just how amazing she was — not that I’ve forgotten. But it helped to remember that other people knew it, too.
And I realized if I had written about Mother’s Day, I would’ve wanted my words to reflect that I’m grateful for the ache, because it tells me I had something worth missing.
STOP.
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Thanks again for being here! Don’t forget to visit the person linked up before you, to share an encouraging word! I pray that this community is a great blessing to you. Enjoy your weekend, friends!
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Oh, Kate, I’m so sorry. I hate those made-up holidays (like Cinco de Mayo–no one in Mexico celebrates it, it’s not even independence day). I am glad that you had a mommy worth missing–that’s a beautiful tribute right there. May the Holy Spirit comfort you during this tough weekend.
Thank you, Anita!
Thanks for your honesty, Kate. I love what you said about being helped by knowing that others knew your mom was amazing. I’ve felt the same way about my mother-in-law, who we lost almost 6 years ago. Blessings to you this Mothers’ Day as you celebrate, grieve, and remember.
So sorry for your loss, too, Courtney! Praise God for women who were worth missing.
Kate,
Oh how beautiful and touching. I want to cry as I read as you convey your pain well, and yet you don’t stay there. That is Jesus in you!
I’m so proud of you for doing this book. You are putting words to something that nobody else can who has not known your pain. You are going to bring healing to thousands of people who need help!
Love,
Tammy
Wow, Tammy — what a way to bolster my motivation to keep going! Thank you, sister! You are a gift.
🙂 Aww, Kate, right back to you! You have blessed me so much. The only greater blessing would be to actually get to hug you. You’re Jesus with skin on. In the flesh. Much love to you!!
Beautiful post, Kate. Reminds me of the ending of the last of the Hobbit films…
“If this is love, take it from me, I don’t want it…why does it hurt so much?”
“Because it was real.”
Joy transcended by heartbreak,is ultimately and eternally redeemed by Grace.
Amen.
I’m so glad you did. There is something really necessary about the ache and letting it be present with us.
This is something I’m learning as I revise my manuscript, Christina. My editor keeps telling me I arrive at the spiritual application too quickly — that sometimes we just need to sit with the pain and the heartache for a while. I struggle, because I want to see the end! But yes, your comment is spot on. Thank you. 🙂
I’m so glad you had a Mom worth missing Kate!
Me too, Christy. Me, too.
Hugs, Kate. I’m so glad you went there and shared what you did…grateful for the ache here too…we are blessed to have had such wonderful Mums. I look forward to reading your memoirs…know it mustn’t be easy to write, but it will bless many, of that I’m sure.
BTW my book has been released (uploaded by Amazon earlier than expected). Thank you for inspiring part of it through FMF. Will send you a copy of the final version soon. Know it will be a while till you have the time to look at it (no worries). No time to write and link up today, sadly: school holidays here.
Thank you for that encouragement, Anna, and for sending your book! Congratulations again! Looking forward to reading your words.
Kate, I feel you, sister. I wrote about my mom too.
Hugs, Susan!
Oh Kate, hugs from my heart to yours. I can only imagine…
Yet I’ve lost BEING a mom after losing Kyle 8 years ago, so I get loss. Yet God gave me a dream last night. Oh how I cherish it! Will have to write about it and share – I had a dream. Not have. Had. Hugs!
Susan, certainly your pain is far more acute than my own. Your hope in the midst of such deep loss is such a testimony of God’s grace. May He continue to shine through you.
So, I awoke this morning, Friday, knowing Sunday was soon upon me. Mother’s Day. A day of celebrating our mothers, mine who left earth almost 14 years ago. Mother’s Day changed for me that year she left but three years ago, life as I knew it, as a mama of four, changed even more when our son, Joshua, died by suicide. I am still a mama of four but one of my precious babies is no longer here
Miss. Today’s word prompt. Simple. I miss my firstborn child every day. Missing has a new meaning to me one that is almost indescribable. Mother’s Day looks different, feels different now me, missing a piece of my core, my heart, never to be returned here this side of eternity. So today, I’m preparing for Sunday, seeking His grace, wisdom and peace knowing and trusting His plan. Enjoy your living mamas, enjoy your children and those memories, rejoice in them, they are a gift. Truly a gift.
“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”
Isaiah 26:3 ESV
Oh Teresa, I can’t imagine your pain. Thank you for sharing these vulnerable words. The verse you included at the end shows where your ultimate hope rests. May you find comfort in Him, even in the midst of your grief.
“I’m grateful for the ache, because it tells me I had something worth missing.” – yes, this, Kate! What a powerful thought. I was thinking today of the moments I ache for missing, some because I’d like to re-live them, and some because they never happened. What a beautiful perspective. Thank you for getting my heart thinking.
Thanks for being here, Angela, and for taking the time to read and comment! Blessings on your weekend!
“I’m grateful for the ache, because it tells me I had something worth missing.”
Yes, that! I needed that articulated for me. My mother has been gone for 22 years now and the emptiness she left in my heart is still there – along with the fullness of what she imparted to all 6 of us. Whatever my children learn from me, they will really have learned from them. When I’m bold, loving, prayerful, or creative – it’s because of her. She rose from so many trials handed to her by life and made something beautiful. Thank you for reminding me to celebrate that instead of mourning the loss.
You have a beautiful perspective, Birgit. Thank you for sharing! I’m sure your children are blessed to have been influenced by both of you! I hope you have a special Mother’s Day!
Oh, dearest Kate. Praying that you feel God holding you close today.
Thank you, Marie! Grateful for you!
Thanks Kate for giving me a time and place to remember my mom and my daughter. Sweet memories still can be painful, but telling the story to others helps. Especially in this uniquely supportive community!
Thinking of you and your losses, Martell. Thanks for being here, and for taking the time to read and comment.
Thank you for being vulnerable about your grief, my friend. I can’t even imagine going through the loss much less writing about it. I cherish your words. Thank you for sharing them with me – or rather us… but at the same time me, because it is so personal.
Now I need to go read Lisa-Jo’s post.
Bless you.
You have such a kind and tender heart. I appreciate you!
I don’t have a blog to link up yet, but wanted to share a poem that came to me inspired by the word “Miss”.
Miss denotes loss, longing, grief.
The daily litany of lack:
Miss the ball
Miss connections
Miss calls
Miss the point
The sins of omission:
Mis-take
Mis-heard
Mis-diagnosed
Mis-interpreted
Mis-managed
Mis-ery
Miss is the past and all its regret.
I Miss you,
My mis-aligned
Missing piece
My mis-step.
Heavier yet is the future tense “miss”;
based entirely on the mis-apprehension
tomorrow’s reality will bare any similarity
to the grace of today’s.
“Will miss” is the death knell
tolling in the distance
for every misappropriated hope and
every mis-directed dream.
Thank you so much for sharing, Rebecca! I loved the way you took this prompt. Hope to see more of your writing here in the future!
Thank you for the inspiration!!!
First time here.
I too MISS my Mom so much…
Welcome, Anita! I’m so sorry that you know that same, deep ache. I do hope we see you back at FMF again soon!
Here’s to 5 minutes of very, rusty writing. 🙂
MISS
Psalms 127:4 talks about children are like arrows in a man’[s hand. So I know that we are to launch them when the time is right. I believe that. But what happens if they Miss the mark that you are aiming for? 1 Timothy 1:6 says that some will and be turned to vain talk, vain discussions. I am also thinking that some will turn and it won’t be just vain talk that they start to live out.
Having a prodigal is heartwrenching. On the good days you smile and say things like ‘they have to own their own salvation” on the bad days…it hurts. You miss them in church, you miss the leadership they had on the worship team. I’ts a miss for them to? Does God miss them? I am sure he does but does anyone else? Do the others in the body miss the member that is gone? Enough to reach out to them ? to pray for them? To apologize for any grievous thing they might have said or done to help them out the door.
Missing the prodigal and not letting it consume you. I’ve seen that. Become so encased in your own misery that you take it out on everyone around you. I don’t want to be like that. But the missing , the letting go and letting God is difficult. And it may come across as callous to those entrenched in hurt and bitterness over their own prodigal.
When did our children miss the mark? What can we do to draw them back?
I’m so, so glad you shared these words, Carol! Thank you for this reminder. I do believe that when one member of the body suffers, the whole body suffers. Grateful for the way you’ve steered my thoughts to prayer.