Feeling Left Out On Mother’s Day
SHARE THIS BLOG
Several months ago, I sat in a meeting with World Vision. During the meeting, they shared a personal experience with a new program, CHOSEN. I’ve heard of World Vision before and what they do for kids around the globe. I’ve seen them on TV many times and at churches and events explaining how there are hundreds of children around the world waiting for a sponsor. Pictures of kids are always shown, and you have the opportunity to choose a child to sponsor.
But this was completely different. In fact, they turned everything upside down.
With CHOSEN, World Vision takes your picture to children in need. The children are given the news they already have a sponsor, all they need to do is choose one! Then each child is led into a room with pictures of sponsors lining every wall, all waiting to be chosen. Each child may choose any sponsor they desire for any reason.
You’ve got to see this powerful video to understand.
At the meeting with World Vision, they shared a story about a couple. They were waiting to be chosen by a child. The day quickly came, and they received a letter from the child who had chosen them, and it simply said, “I choose you because you look like you’d be great parents.”
It was a simple note that brought tears and healing. This couple had been battling infertility for years and was just beginning the process of adoption. The opportunity to be parents, much less great parents, seemed like a dream that would never come, a prayer that would go unanswered.
And yet, this child, from thousands of miles away, had chosen them to be his sponsor and brought with it words of love. He chose them.
To be chosen fills us with love and with hope. It can fill us with a sense of purpose and belonging. Being chosen feels like I matter in this world.
But what happens when you’re not chosen?
Not chosen by someone you love.
Not chosen by a parent.
Not chosen to be a parent.
To not be chosen may will fill us with despair, rejection, or worthlessness.
Sometimes even when you are a mom and with a “picture perfect” family, you can forget to choose and love yourself.
When Mother’s Day Isn’t So Great
This can be a day that fills each of us with joy, rejection, or a crazy mixture of both.
Not being chosen to be a parent, regardless of how many prayers you’ve prayed, doctors you have seen, and procedures you’ve had done.
Not being chosen to be called ‘Mom,” because your child has walked away from you. They have chosen to end the relationship. To live their life without you.
Not being chosen to be called daughter or son. What happens when your mom chooses to step out of your life? The relationship is broken and there is seemingly nothing you can do to change the circumstances.
Unanswered prayers or hurt and broken relationships may become your focus. These can overshadow everything else in your life. Rejection. It is a powerful emotion.
But we have all been chosen. If our pictures were lining the walls of Heaven for God to walk through and choose, He would choose you.
He has already chosen you. He chose you before you were born. He chose you before you made your first mistake. He continues to choose you after you’ve made a thousand mistakes. In fact, there is nothing you or I could do to change the choice God made.
God created you on purpose.
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
Psalm 139
God made a choice.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:6-8
God sent His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for each of us. He did this because He loves you. He did this because He wants to have a relationship with you. He did this because He chose you. (Read more in John 19)
Remembering we are chosen changes everything. Regardless of unanswered prayers, lost dreams, and broken relationships, hold tight to the knowledge that you have been chosen. You matter to God.
Take the time to mourn what once was or may never be. Talk to God about all of it. And then remind yourself, you are His child because He chose you. Ask Him to fill you with His joy and love.
And then look around. Who can you choose?
Would you like to pray with someone?