This image is one of the main faces for the Great Depression. If the photographer’s description is correct, I am the same age now as the mama seen here.
Lately, life has felt extra stressful & heavy.
It FEELS like my mental & physical exhaustion is at an all-time high.
I FEEL THIS MAMA’S struggle.
She trudges on each day even as the world she’s waking up to seems to be in a place of catastrophic failure with no attainable solution.
- The economy is crumbling
- The state of our public education system is scary enough to prompt immediate action (& my kiddos aren’t even school-aged yet)
- The grocery stores are THIS close to being able to access and sell “lab-grown meat” options
- And we’re about 5 years away from successfully growing “parentless” human babies in a synthetic “womb”
Sounds pretty hopeless; a familiar deep, dark hole that can slowly induce feelings of claustrophobia if I allow my mind to rest too long in that ever-growing negative space.
Just as I settle into the pit of darkness glowing on this mama’s face, I notice the child-sized hand curled up into a dirty fist resting on her shoulder – and my hardened heart instantly softens up a bit.
I realize this woman has infinitely more reasons than I do to be stressed out and hard-hearted. In the midst of the tragedy produced during Great Depression years, this mama’s most important mission was still to “show up” for her family – and by the way those two little ones are resting their heads faithfully on her shoulders, I’d say mama did a pretty good job at mom-ing in these little ones’ eyes.
She may not be anywhere close to what she imagined for her kids, but to her children, she is the world. Even as their daily lives change so drastically from one day to the next, their mama is their constant and she serves an extraordinary purpose.
While no family is perfect, whatever situation you find yourself in, ask God to renew your vision for motherhood.
Sally Clarkson Devotional Entry: Mom Heart Moments
A little inspiration from Sally:
