Uplook - May 10, 2026

Good morning,

I've delayed my weekly email this morning to offer a warm greeting to all of our mothers.   God bless you for all that you do.  

With that said, I am aware that both Mother's and Father's Day can bring a myriad of emotions for people.  Some of those emotions are joy and happiness because of the blessings which often come with becoming a mother.  We certainly do not want to minimize these in any way and today of all days wish to celebrate and honor them.  Mothers who love, pray, teach, work, etc. abound and must be lifted up.   Yet, these holidays also can bring less positive feelings.  Feelings of loss or grief which spring again from a variety of circumstances including estrangement between parents and children, or not having children because of infertility or choice, or even the natural grief of simply growing older and parents having passed away.  These feelings can sometimes feel overwhelming and are recognized even by large companies when they offer "opt outs" of their marketing messages during these holidays.

So today, I want to honor both of the extremes...celebrating the blessing of motherhood as God designed, honoring all of the wonderful Godly examples even within our own congregation of women (biological mothers or not) who have loved, invested, shared, cried, prayed, etc. for the next generation.  God bless you all.   I also want to honor and respect those for whom this day brings a measure of pain.  Pain over lost opportunity, regret over relationships lost, and grief over parents now gone all are very real.  In honoring mother's today, we rejoice in God's love which extends far beyond that of a mother.  The prophet Isaiah noted in 49:13 that even if a mother forgets her nursing child that God will never forget us and in 66:13 he assures Israel (and us) of his love and care just as a nursing mother provides for her child.  

God bless you all today.  May Jesus gather you near to him just as he offered Jerusalem  (Matthew 23:37) .  May we respond positively to His loving embrace today.

BB

Rev. William E. McKibben
Senior Pastor