A Prayer for All Mothers Everywhere

Greetings of Peace and All Good from the Dormant Poster on this site, Lynn.
I Last posted in November of 2009.
Life has been a storm, but I am learning to like storms because there is always something better in the end.
When we began this blog we envisioned it serving as a bridge that united mothers who shared a desire for holiness while maintaining reverence for,
and celebrating their diversity.
Today I celebrate motherhood.

A mother is a mother forever.
From both sides.
She is forever the child's mother,
and the child is forever her baby.
I am the mother of four young adults.
My heart still races with their triumphs,
I still have butterflies with their trials, and
my stomach pits with their failures.

My deepest prayer for each of them is Faith and well being in this world and that they attain fullness of joy in the next.

As a pediatric nurse, the most common complaint that we get from new parents is that the baby doesn't sleep well. I remember those days myself. How I yearn to go back.
I tell the parents to look at their baby and mentally catalog every sweet moment of baby and young childhood. Those sweet memories are what get you through the challenges as they become teenagers. I can remember the agony when one of my strays would break curfew: You pace, you stretch your neck to see headlights that aren't there, you try to will the phone to ring, and at the same time you pray it doesn't etc....
During those sleepless hours I would remember the twilight hours with them as babes in arms. I'd pray to God and ask for the intercession of Mary, the angels and saints, for a mantle of protection over them. I prayed the rosary, a lot. I believe that those prayers and warm recollections protected the child not only from evil and harm, but also from my irrational, sleep deprived wrath. Rational wrath is always the wrath of choice especially in dealing with teenagers:)

The closest I've ever lived to my mother in my adult life was a four hour distance away.
I can remember my twenty something self rolling my eyes when my mother would ask us to call and let the phone ring once when we would travel home. Back in the day long distance calls were quite expensive. Charges began when the receiver picked up.
One ring let our parents know that we were safe at home. They could rest easy. I always made the call out of respect and obedience, but felt that I was above it and it was silly..
Forgive me, Mom, for the eye rolling thing. I was a brat.

Induldge me,if you will, and allow me to mention the love, concern, anticipation and unending prayer that a mother has as she awaits the arrival of each grandchild.

My Mom, Kristen's grandmother, remains the forever mother. She has perpetual concerns her children's happiness, health and well being. When my nephew Andy went to the Lord last year, my parents suffered not only the heartbreak of losing a grandchild, but the agony of watching the suffering in their own child as he watched the life of his thirteen year old son slip away.

I recall a few years ago when a friend had lost her elderly mother. She shared this:
"She was 96 years old,
she couldn't do much,
she didn't remember much,
but she's my Mom and she's not here,
I love her and will miss her
until we meet again."

As His mother, how agonizing those last days of Jesus' life must have been for Mary.

Last August, Mike and I made a long awaited pilgrimage to Our Lady of the Rockies in Butte Montana. She stands atop a mountain on the continental divide and blesses Our Nation. She is dedicated to women everwhere. The story of her construction is amazing and is chronicled in the book, Our Lady Builds a Statue. There is a chapel at the site that holds name plates in honor of hundreds of women along its outer walls. What amazed me more than the statue was the heartfelt reverence to Mary by non Catholic townspeople.

I brought to the statue the names of every mother I could think of and finished my list with "every mother everywhere". I prayed a rosary and left the list inside of the statue. If you are a mother and you are reading this, know that you are being prayed for.

There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary." Sister Lucia dos Santos ...

For our Children, for our Mothers, let us pray:
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us.
Our Lady Of Kibeho, pray for us.
St. Monica, patroness of mothers, pray for us.

Oh, and, one more thing, adult children, when they're not acting like adults, fight too.