Do They Celebrate Mother's Day in Bulgaria?

When I look at Grace, I sometimes wonder what her birth mom is like. Does Gracie look like her? Is she spunky and talkative, too? Does she wonder about the premature little girl who had such a bleak future? But today, on Mother's Day, my heart broke for this woman who I have never met and yet has blessed me beyond her imagination. I cried through the entire sermon.

The two scripture verses in church service today made me think about the weight of the decision to give Grace up for adoption. What must it have been like to give birth 14 weeks early, to a tiny 12-inch long, 1.65-pound underdeveloped child who was hooked up to machines and tubes, and to know that this little girl would need medical care that you could not provide. How heartbreaking. This mother who experienced labor and delivery, had to have loved her child or she would not have attempted to go to the hospital in the first place. Surely she has strong maternal instincts since she nurtures 4 older siblings. What must it have been like in the following weeks after Grace's birth? Did she cry as her body returned to normal? Did she mourn? Did her arms ache for the child she didn't get to hold? Was she pressured by family or hospital workers to make this decision? What did she say to Grace's siblings when she came home without her little girl? Does she think about Grace, or does she avoid those thoughts completely?

The Bible suggests to me that it is impossible for Grace's birth mom not to have cared for her, and I believe the gentle, loving spirit that I see in Grace is the same love her mother showed when she gave Grace the best chance she could at a future. She gave her "whole baby" into our arms where she could get the care and love she needed, instead of risking harm to her. She loved her enough to give her to us just as the woman in the Bible who was willing to give up her baby to keep him safe.

The real mother of the living baby was overcome with emotion for her son and said, "Oh no, master! Give her the whole baby alive; don't kill him!" But the other one said, "If I can't have him, you can't have him--cut away!" 1 Kings 3:26 msg

Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for a child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! Isaiah 49:15 nlt

I hope that someday, especially with the advances in technology, Grace can meet her birth mom and siblings with a thankful heart. Just as Joseph saw God's hand in his life, bringing him through enslavement and imprisonment to eventually save his family and a nation from starvation, I hope that Grace will understand her adoption as a part of God's divine plan for her life and ours. And today, even though it isn't Mother's Day in Bulgaria, I am sending an extra prayer to a special woman who gave birth to a beautiful little girl, our Gracie. I pray that God will comfort her mother's heart and fill her life with blessings.