Categories: uncategorized
Date: 22 March 2009 13:55:05
If I look back to my posts on Mothering Sunday I see that in 2005 I was trying to be positive the day before, but didn't comment at all on the day. In 2006 it appears I was yet again talking about my struggles with it, but enjoyed it because it basically didn't happen where I was worshipping. In 2007 it appeared Third Party decided to "do" Mothering Sunday, but I didn't mention church (the bit I normally struggle with most), and in 2008 Third Party is again mentioned but I kept decidedly quiet on the subject of church again.
I think this may indicate that as I have obviously said before me and church on Mothering Sunday have had a tense relationship. It's been a time, often, when I have felt a sense of inadequacy about not meeting the Christian "ideal stereotype" for mothers. This year things have changed though. Firstly, I have become increasingly aware of there actually not being a universal "ideal stereotype" and where one is is put forward it is something constructed by the church not God. He creates us all to be who we are and that involves expressing our personalities in our individual styles of mothering.
Secondly, God has blessed me with healing. This healing has partly been one of those things I guess has been an ongoing process as my life has changed. More specifically though, I realise that God has done an awful lot of healing in me through my change of church. Today was another example. I went to the Mothering Sunday service and found a whole new experience. It was in some senses quite traditional, with all the women recieving flowers, but it also had another element to it. There were no stereotypes of motherhood within it at all, rather there was a wider sense of understanding what Mothering Sunday meant in contemporary soceity. Finally, in the intercessory prayers there was specific mention of those who struggle with Mothers Day - acknoweledging for many it isn't the easiest day of the year. Net result for me was I actually enjoyed a Mothering Sunday service which had a specific Mothering Sunday focus.
This is just one example of the healing process which has been going on in me. A process which has also got me to a stage where I am ready, incidently, to no longer describe myself as being an evangelical but recognise the value of my evangelical heritage. I don't want it to sound like my previous experiences of church have been bad - I loved HBBC and the peeps there were total legends. However, as regular readers and real life friends know I did at various points really stuggle with some of the theology. I am now in a place where God has allowed me to drop alot of the baggage and relax within worship. This has been a real healing and one of the best aspects of the move.