Today more than 40% of moms are raising children on their own. While I could talk about the hard things that single mom’s go through ( from a LITTLE bit of personal experience) This is not a post about the hardships of single parent-hood. This is to encourage any single moms out there who worry about their children. This is an excerpt from a letter my friend sent to her friends recently, me included obviously.
I have known this friend since I was six years old. She lived with my family for awhile, and some where a long the line my entire family “adopted” her as their own. But it seems mine was the first of several who “adopt” this beautiful girl.
God knows what he is doing. He will bring father’s, siblings, and even grandparents to your child. And when there is no one person to fill that role, God can and will fill that for them. He knows the plans he has for your child. Plans to prosper them and not to harm them, plans to give them hope and a future. Before they were formd in your womb, He knew them. And He knows better than you do what they need. (Jeremiah 29:11; Jeremiah 1:5)
“Friends love through all kinds of weather and families stick together in all kinds of trouble” (Proverbs 17:17). “Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family” (Proverbs 18:24)
Last night, I talked with my sister on the phone. Together we reflected the sadness in our life stemming from the absence of our father. Through the years it has been a heartbreaking struggle to overcome the idea that the one who helped create us, never cared to love us. As we talked, we resurrected feelings of rejection not only from out dad but also his side of our family. Never fully accepted and always treated as outcasts, our hearts ached at the realization that we did not belong. As we continued to chat, God began to speak to me. In the midst of complaining, I was reminded of my life as it is now…amazing! There have been times in my life when I believed I lacked much. What I have come to realize is that I have all that I need…great friends, eternal family and never ending love and encouragement. All lacked, God has given me in abundance.
I opened this with two scriptures regarding friendship. Were you wondering how I might transition from the above story to friendship? Here’s how: “a true friend sticks by you like family”.
Growing up and into my mid 20’s, I thought I could never really be happy. Feeling the rejection from both my mother and father, I wondered how I could ever overcome such loss. As I have grown and matured, not only as an adult but also in God, I see that overcoming the adversity has been much easier than I could have expected…and I didn’t have to do much. God, being the great Father He is, did it for me! He has provided friends who have become my family. In the loss I have felt, God has restored my ideals of family…how they act, how they live, how they encourage and how they love.
As she and I talked I began to see that I did not need to dredge up the past. Why open wounds that have begun to scab over and heal? Carefully, I placed my Neosporin and Band-Aid over my scratch and let the healing process continue…minimal to no scarring to be shown when the process is completed. I smiled-and cried-as God reminded me that He created me…not my natural father. His love and acceptance have always been there. As His truth stared me in the face, and He patiently waited for me to grasp hold of this concept. Today I recognize that along my journey God has placed in my life people who helped bring me to where I am. Those people are you! You have seen me through many moments…happiness, success, sadness and failure. You’ve kicked my butt and comforted me. You’ve wiped my tears and encouraged me to move on. You are my earthly rocks…the truest of the true.