Mother’s Day brings with it a sunburst of jubilant images on social media.  Smiling kids serving breakfast in bed. Cute babies dressed in their Sunday frills.  Women heralding, “I’m so happy to be a Mom. It’s the best gift ever.”  Places of worship kindly gift flowers and trinkets to moms & Pinterest serves up all sorts of crafty projects.

And these moms have every single right to be proud.  To post pictures. To devour that breakfast in bed and accept those heartfelt gifts.  We love those moms.

But to some ladies, Mother’s Day is a stark reminder of what doesn’t exist.  Many profess that it one of the most dreaded days of the year.  Many moms don’t have a baby to hold. They don’t have a child to cover with kisses.  And on Mother’s Day, these women are sometimes accidentally ignored.  Let’s change that.  Let’s bring these women out of the shadows and into the light of love.

The invisible moms- the women who experience pregnancy loss.

Their babies died in the womb, but reside in heaven.  The terminology used to describe that trauma, ‘miscarriage’ and ‘stillbirth,’ are deceptively simple terms that imply a slight medical procedure.  But it’s not a medical procedure and it’s not slight; it’s the loss of a precious life that a woman cradled in her womb.

For some parents, this tragedy happens multiple times. And many of these women have no living children. All their babies were born straight into heaven.

The dear moms who have outlived one or more of their children.

They put in the sleepless nights, tackled the pile of never-ending laundry, and miss- more than anything- the sweet, sweet embrace of their precious child.

The hopeful women- those who yearn for nothing more than to be a mother.

But they battle infertility.  Some have lost that fight.  Now people constantly question, “Why didn’t you ever have kids?”  Let’s pour some love on them.

On Mother’s Day these fearless females might put on a brave, happy face or they might avoid any and all social settings. But Mother’s Day doesn’t disappear.  And you know what?

We don’t want Mother’s Day to disappear either; motherhood should be celebrated. Life should be cherished.       

This Mother’s Day let’s choose to love on all moms: the moms who have a precious baby they can hold in their arms, the moms whose sweet babies are in Heaven, and the women whose heart desire was to be a mom.

If you know a woman whose baby died in the womb, a woman who has lost a living child, or a woman battling infertility recognize her this Mother’s Day. Send a text or greeting card, make a phone call, send flowers or envelope her in a hug.  Use the name of her child in your conversation.  It brings women comfort when you recognize her little one.

If you are at a loss for words simply write, “ I want you to know I’m thinking of you this Mother’s Day. I love and cherish you.”

Offer a discrete but extremely meaningful gesture by lighting a candle or displaying a beautiful flower arrangement in honor of all the women whose babies are in heaven and those women who battle infertility.

Perhaps write in the bulletin or announce, “The flowers in the sanctuary are placed in honor of all the moms whose babies are in heaven and all the women whose hearts’ desire was to be a mother. We love you.”

Those are just a few simple suggestions that will make a big statement of love to all women.  Will you join our campaign?

And sweet mother…if you are at an event on Mother’s Day and the speaker says, “Stand if you are a mother” by all means…stand…and stand proudly.  You are a mother,

Mother |Noun | A woman in relation to a child or children to whom she has given birth.

We Stand Together to #HonorAllMoms this Mother’s Day.