Mother’s Day Litany The Wide Spectrum of Mothering By Amy Young Betty Lee Hill One: To those who gave birth this year to their first child, All: we celebrate with you. One: To those who lost a child this year, All: we mourn with you. One: To those who are in the trenches with little ones every day and wear the badge of food stains, All: we appreciate you. One: To those who experienced loss through miscarriage, failed adoptions, or running away, All: we mourn with you. One: To those who walk the hard path of infertility, fraught with pokes, prods, tears, and disappointment, All: we walk with you. Forgive us when we say foolish things. We don’t mean to make this harder than it is. One: To those who are foster moms, mentor moms, and spiritual moms. All: we need you. One: To those who have warm and close relationships with your children, All: we celebrate with you. One: To those who have disappointment, heartache, and distance with your children, All: we sit with you. One: To those who lost their mothers this year, All: we grieve with you. One: To those who experienced abuse at the hands of your own mother, All: we acknowledge your experience. One: To those who lived through driving tests, medical tests, and the overall testing of motherhood, All: we are better for having you in our midst. One: To those who have aborted children, All: we remember them and you on this day. One: To those who are single and long to be married and mothering your own children, All: we mourn that life has not turned out the way you longed for it to be. One: To those who step-parent, All: we walk with you on these complex paths. One: To those who envisioned lavishing love on grandchildren, yet that dream is not to be, All: we grieve with you. One: To those who will have emptier nests in the upcoming year, All: we grieve and rejoice with you. One: To those who placed children up for adoption, All: we commend you for your selflessness and remember how you hold that child in your heart. One: And to those who are pregnant with new life, both expected and surprising, All: we anticipate with you. One: This Mother’s Day, we walk with you. Mothering is not for the faint of heart and we have real warriors in our midst. All: We remember you. Amen.
Invocation and Lord’s Prayer Rev. M. Barbara Graham Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Musical Offering “Taste and See”
Scripture Reading Psalm 34:8-9 (NSRV) Rev. Bill Wolfe O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. O fear the Lord, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. Sermon “Food Cravings” Rev. Bill Wolfe