To those who become mothers through adoption –

            we rejoice with you.

To those who are pregnant and those who have given birth –

            we celebrate with you.

To those who know the ache of losing a child –

            we mourn with you.

To those in the trenches with little ones every day, wearing the badge of food stains –

            we appreciate you.

To those who experienced loss through miscarriage, still birth, or failed adoptions –

            we mourn with you.

To those who are fraught with infertility’s pokes, prods, tears, and disappointment –

            we walk with you.  Forgive us when we say foolish things.

            We don’t mean to make this harder than it is.

To those who are foster moms, mentor moms, grandmoms, and godmoms –

            we need you.

To those who have warm and close relationships with your children –

            we celebrate with you.

To those who have disappointment, friction, or distance with your children –

            we sit with you.

To those who have lost their mothers –

            we grieve with you.

To those who experienced abuse at the hands of your own mother –

            we acknowledge your painful experience.

To those who are tested by motherhood and milestones –

            we are better for having you in our midst.

To those who have aborted children –

            we remember them and you on this day.

To those who mother by loving nieces and nephews, students and neighbors –

            we give you thanks for your nurturing.

To those who wish children had been part of the plan –

            we mourn that absence with you.

To those who step-parent –

            we walk with you on these complex paths.

To those who envisioned lavishing love on grandchildren, yet that dream is not to be –

            we grieve with you.

To those who will have emptier nests in the upcoming year –

            we pray for your transition.

To all those who love fiercely and completely –

            we are grateful for God’s compassion and love shining through you.

Almighty God, with a mother’s love you sent your son Jesus Christ to care for all the world and demonstrate what it means to be in right relationship with each other.  Work within us and through us that we might love and care for each other and all creation.  In Jesus’ name we pray.   Amen