These reads are for the mothers — the ones struggling to find the good in their own defeat, the ones entering the season of bleacher-sitting instead of potty-training, the ones who long to speak life-giving words, the ones who want a guarantee and don’t have it.

When Motherhood Has You in the Valley of Defeat

One of my own favorite posts I return to over and over because I never stop needing it.

While I don’t feel I know much as a mother, I am 100% convinced that moralism and charts and systems may get the desired results on the outside, but they won’t begin to touch the inside.

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The Ministry of a Mini-Van by Kimberly Coyle

Like Kimberly, I’m in a new season. And no one told me how abruptly it would arrive and how fleeting the goldfish years really were. My own mini-van is dinged up but well loved, wearing the scars of her service much like I as a mother wear mine.

It is strange to think I’m no longer the mom wrangling three littles, or shuttling kids to elementary school…I’m the mom who cheers from the sidelines of their lives, while they run and run and run towards their future.

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One Thing Your Teenage Daughter Doesn’t Need You to Say by Emily Freeman

Because I do have a teenage daughter and I think about the truth of this post whenever I’m tempted to speak words that will only teach her to hide behind her good behavior.

And when she hears adults tell her to be an example, she thinks that means she can never mess up, can never have problems, can never just be a teenager with struggles like everyone else. She might then mature into a woman who believes being a Christian means having it all together, saying all the “right” things, staying a few steps above everyone else.

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Good Mom by Shannan Martin

An honest post for all of us. Raising kids isn’t about guarantees; it’s about receiving grace and letting it spill over. It’s about trusting the God who holds us and holds our kids, even if they want nothing to do with Him. This is how we learn what real grace and true love are all about.

I know our kids who look us straight in the eye and say they don’t want God might be the very people God uses to remind us of His unflagging affection and authority.

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Wherever you are on Mother’s Day weekend, may you be reminded of all the mothers who have held you, nurtured you, and loved you into the person you are today.

It takes all of us, doesn’t it?

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