Happy Wednesday, Union Friends -
You are in my heart so much these days. Like many of you, I'm sure, I miss seeing your faces in person, shaking your hands, and giving you a hug. As I'm writing this, it seems like these words are exactly what I wrote last week. But - the feelings are still there, and so I write.
As you know, each week, we are providing ways for you to connect with each other - through online worship, Bible studies, small group meetings and daily Bible readings. This week, we've added another touch. To go along with our daily Bible readings, we will be providing a Bible verse from that reading to use as a "wallpaper" for your phone. You can find this on our Facebook or Instagram accounts. Take it, and add it to your phones each week, as an additional help for Bible verse memorization.
This Sunday is Mother's Day and even though we can't celebrate our Union mothers in person, we can do it virtually. Please think with me about all the women who have "mothered" you. Those women who have taught you, prayed for you, given you guidance throughout your life. Take a moment this weekend and give thanks for them.
Faithful and True: A Mother's Day Prayer
God of grace, thank you for the gift of motherhood:
for the joy of giving birth, for the delight of loving a child,
for the unfolding of a relationship over time.
From mothers cradling babies, to adults caregiving for aging parents,
the relationship of mother and child is a gift from you!
Thank you for all who mother us,
biological or adoptive mothers, caregivers, relatives and friends;
women who have been there for us, who have made us who we are.
Thank you, God, that even though mothers may fail us, you never fail us
and that you mother us through your love.
We are not perfect people, and in our intimate relationships, we are imperfect.
For all the ways we have as mothers, disappointed or failed our children, forgive us.
For all the ways we have as children, disappointed or failed our mothers, forgive us.
Give us the grace to say, “I’m sorry,” and the wisdom to make amends
For mothers today we ask for patience, to allow our children to be children;
we ask for vision to see the long view, and the impact small parenting choices can make,
we ask for self-control, so that we may model gracefulness in stressful situations.
Above all these we ask for love, pressed down, shaken together, running over!
We ask this in the name of Jesus, who knew the love of a mother,
faithful and true to the end, Amen.
Prayer from: https://carolpenner.typepad.com/leadinginworship/2011/05/mothers-day-prayer-2.html
-Pastor Jane