Hi My Friends,

Can you believe it’s May already?!

May is usually all about Mother’s Day and Memorial Day among other things. The planning and ads for these two events seem to take up most of the month but I don’t mind. Without mothers and people willing to lay down their lives for their friends and neighbors, the world wouldn’t exist.

If you don’t believe that, just ask God. He could have created a body from dust, breathed life into it, and called that person His only begotten son. Yet He chose to give Jesus a mom who would conceive, bring forth and nourish that precious life. He also said that there is no greater love than a man willing to lay down his life for a friend.

Thankfully, I’ve been blessed to know, see and have both of these types of love as examples in my life: a beautiful, amazing mom and an uncle who lost his life on his third tour of duty. I’m grateful, so grateful for all the ones who loved enough to willingly lay down their lives for my freedoms, the families who raised and loved the ones who were lost (you raised them right and good), and all the beautiful mothers who have loved and made the world go round in a good, good way.

I have to admit I grew up not knowing just how blessed I am in the mom department. See, I was given to a beautiful, loving mother. She is a mother who loves me and my siblings so much that she has never viewed her sacrifices for us as sacrifices. To her, it’s just called a mom’s love. From infancy to adulthood, I’ve always known I can call mom and have her show up. Even better, my mom and I became friends.

My friends, the ones I grew up with, also have that loving mother-daughter relationship. The same kind of relationship as me and the type of relationships where we all (moms and daughters) became good friends. So you can imagine my shock when I entered the workforce and encountered my first bash-the-mom sessions.

It started innocently enough gathered around a lunch table with my favorite female colleagues where one asked another about her mom’s visit. After she shared how upsetting the visit was, one by one my colleagues began agreeing and sympathizing with her. Then they all began to talk about how much they hated their moms.

My reaction was one of shock and I went quiet. Eventually, they paused and turned to me and asked the question I was dreading: “well, what about you?” I tried to take the easy way out by asking “huh, what about me?” Unfortunately, I didn’t get away with it. After a short silence complete with arched eyebrows and expectant looks, I finally admitted that not only did I love my mom but I was a mama’s girl and friends with her as well.

Over the years, I have experienced many of these conversations, including ones where the moms bashed their daughters. I’ve also become good at spotting the girl like me who feels uncomfortable because she can’t relate to these stories.

Here’s the thing: when I eventually asked each of those colleagues why they hated their moms, they all had horror stories to tell. The interesting part is that when some of them met my mom, they adored her at first sight. Later, all of them said a variation of the same thing: “you’re lucky and I can tell why you two are friends. I wish I had a mom like her.”

Right now, you might be wondering about my point. Am I just boasting on my mom? Am I saying that mom-bashing is justified? Well, yes and no.

Yes, I have a virtuous woman for a mom and the Bible says that she shall be praised and her children shall call her blessed. So here I am, calling her blessed (If you’re reading this letter, Mom, I love you 😘).

No, I’m not condoning mom-bashing and I’m not condoning daughter-bashing either. The truth is:

• The Bible is very clear about honoring mothers.
• The Bible is also clear that there will always be mothers who forsake their children and do evil to them.
• The Bible also tells us about the enmity between mothers and daughters/daughter-in-laws which will grow worse in the last days.
• Last but not least, the Bible is very clear that we must treat others how we wish to be treated, not how we have been treated.

As Christian women who know Truth, we are in a unique position to do so much good in a world where so many mothers, daughters and in-laws are hurting.

We can make sure to keep God’s commandments at the forefront of our minds and hearts and become true examples of Christ’s Love.

We don’t have to take sides but we can acknowledge the hurt and the pain.

We can help uplift by simply reaching out a hand.

We can PRAY.

So I would love to ask a favor from you, my dear friends:

• First, if you know anyone who has unresolved pain surrounding their mother/daughter relationship, will you spend time in prayer for them? Prayer is always the best thing we can do in any situation.
• Next, if you are someone who has loving relationships with the women in your family, will you invite a lonely, hurting grandmother, mother, daughter or daughter-in-law to join your Mother’s Day celebrations?

If you are reading this letter and you are that lonely, hurting female who has been invited to another family’s celebration, will you give some thought to joining that family? It may not be what you’ve longed for, but please don’t slam shut the door that God is opening. Please don’t reject that gift of love or family connection that God is offering you just because it looks different from your dreams.

Remember that God sets the solitary in families and realize that while blood is thicker than water, water can wash away blood.

To all the mothers, I wish you Happy Mother’s Day and a day full of love.

To the mothers of soldiers, I send my love and and wish you a Very Happy Mother’s Day. I’m so grateful for you.

With all my Love,

Naomi

Meek Like Moses Founder

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