Happy Mother's Day...Early

I've wanted to write this post for a long time now. I've been sitting on it, mulling it over and trying to find just the write words to convey the picture I wanted to share.
Today seemed right because a very sweet family we know, is in San Diego today with their 5 yr old son, who is getting a pacemaker put in. Gavin is strong and his mama is even stronger.
Another child in our church got to come home from the hospital where he's been for months in Ohio. It was so sweet to see him with his whole family Easter Sunday. Gage is strong and Kris is even stronger.

When it was time for us to make the decision to let son#2 go away to "camp" and get help, everyone asked me how I could handle such a thing. All I know, is that God's good. Good enough to help me when I surely couldn't help myself.
When I went to the Bible to look for an example of my inner turmoil, I saw God's sacrifice of His son on the cross, I saw Job and his suffering of loosing his wife & children. Surely my own situation could not compare to the gravity of those specific examples. My child wasn't going to die, but it sure felt like I might. Then one day while talking to a family member, the realization hit me like a ton of bricks.
SARAH.

Have you ever noticed or thought about Genesis chapter 22 where God calls Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, how we don't hear one peep from Sarah, the mother? I feel relatively sure one of two things occurred in their little tent home that day. Either Abraham took Isaac with him and did not tell Sarah what God had asked him to do, OR Abraham and Sarah had some words.
I would think, that should the later be the case, there would be a few more chapters in Genesis if God felt that was helpful to us, but it's not in there. I double checked.

God asks the FATHER, to take Isaac and use him as a sacrifice. Kill him. And the next morning Abraham sets out with his son. So that means Abraham had to sleep on it. (And possibly talk to his wife about it.) Assuming he could sleep.
It took THREE days to reach the location to be used for sacrifice. That's a lot of thinking time. As most of us know, the story goes along that God stops Abraham from sacrificing his only son. Not ONCE is Sarah mentioned in the story or the 22nd chapter of Genesis.

What about this, what if Sarah knew what Abraham was doing? What God had asked him to do with Isaac. What if she had peace, faith and trust? That she just knew God would take care of her son. She was human. There had to still be tears and turmoil over all of that. Sarah waited SO long to have a baby--to give him up? Second guessing--"Did Abraham hear God right? He is getting older. They say the hearings the first thing to go..."

Mary the mother of Jesus had quite a job requirement--Mother to the Messiah, virgin mother, let him go to the temple and be with his Father, when I bet all she wanted was to hold him close and keep him with her. Fast forward, and she was at the foot of the cross, watching her son suffer a horrible death at the hands of others. Was this what God chose her for? To watch her child suffer? Why would God think she could do this?

Maybe He chose Mary & Sarah--and other countless strong moms like Elizabeth and Hannah and women I know today--because they had tremendous FAITH. He had a hard job that needed to be done, and he knew man usually likes to think they can do everything on their own, but these women, THESE WOMEN, would turn humbly to God. They'd seek him in prayer, thanksgiving, question AND doubt. And they would give Him, the glory and adoration.

Amazing! As a Christian we strive to be as Christ-like as we can. Far, far from perfect, we just don't make him proud some days. I cannot get over what a privilege and a blessing for a woman's faith to be picked to handle such extraordinary things! I'm humbled by Faith, Kris, Kim and countless other moms I watch and know. That God saw to it, that your spirit was so specially made for this difficult job. A job that sometimes makes you feel alone, angry, confused, worried and thrilled beyond any measure--usually all in one day. Being a mom is certainly not the most important job in the world, and it is not everyone's cup of tea. It doesn't make us better than any other woman and it doesn't make us less. But even God felt Christ would need a mother for his stay here on earth.