Sorrowing Mothers

Photo from The Telegraph

I was an elderly first-time mother.

No, I'm not being self-deprecating--this was the official diagnosis from my wonderful obstetrician. In fact, he teased me as he congratulated Husband and me on our new stage in life.

"Get ready," he said. "You have 18 years of worrying in front of you."

"Great," I thought. "I'll be 50 years old by the time I'm able to stop worrying."

You're laughing at me now, aren't you? All of us whose children have entered the age of majority know that there's nothing magical about the age 18. We continue to worry about our children, even as we have less control over their actions and circumstances.

Right now I seem to have an uncommon number of friends whose newly-grown children are in crisis. They're fighting the demons of mental illness, struggling with health issues, dealing with unemployment or debt or loneliness.

Last week one of those mothers had her arm around my waist as she talked about the iconic mothers of the Bible.

"I think about Mary and Elizabeth, and how excited they were when their babies were born," my friend said, "telling each other 'blessed are we among women!'"

But then, both of these mothers saw their sons endure pain that was physical, emotional, and spiritual, before suffering humiliating deaths. The number of tears they must have shed is unimaginable.

"They had to watch that, and they couldn't do anything about it," this friend said. "They just had to have faith in God's plan and know that He was working in the lives of their sons."

And of course,  the work God was doing was divine, and the humiliating deaths turned into triumphant work for His kingdom.

Today I'm praying for all mothers of adults who are suffering, that these mothers' faith in God's plan would be strong and shining, even through their tears.