More than a month has passed since Easter 2019, and Jesus still lives.  I want and need to live out this truth. My desire going forward is to experience resurrection as a state of mind and a way of life.

In the meantime, Mother’s Day has come and gone and it was complicated for all kinds of reasons. Children have grieved the loss of their mothers.  Mothers grieve over loss of children. Others grieve over less than ideal relationships with their mothers or children. As thankful as I am for the woman who birthed and raised me,  I am also accepting (and grieving) the fact that I will not birth a child. And yes, having any role in mothering another is wonderful, but the disappointment is still real.

Is it possible to breathe new life into a dream that has died?

When I think about loved ones who have died, I find some comfort from the legacy they left.  For me, legacy is like the act of weaving the most meaningful threads of someone else’s life into the tapestry of my own life. As I process my own ambivalence around motherhood, I am reflecting on Shiphrah and Puah, Hebrew midwives in the Old Testament book of Exodus and I’m encouraged that God had something special in store for them.

God was pleased with the midwives. The people continued to increase in number—a very strong people. And because the midwives honored God, God gave them families of their own. Exodus 1:20-21 (The Message)

That is not to say that Shiphrah and Puah necessarily had biological children, but they would indeed bring something forth.  This is their legacy to me.

In  Exodus Women, Volume One: Securing the Sacred, Alison Gise Johnson and Vanessa Monroe make this clarion call:

“Midwives have no purpose unless women are ready to give birth — to birth dreams, strategic plans, businesses, careers, research, publications, and ministries. At some point, even midwives themselves are ready to birth. And so are you.”

As a spiritual midwife, I have rejoiced in bearing witness to the birthing of purpose in others. Yet I also want to delight in that Voice saying, “And there is more for you too…”
How about you? What are you being called to bring forth?

Your Call: Where are you bearing witness to new life in this season?  Whose legacy can you reflect on to encourage you?