Aldrich - Heart hugs for single moms: 52 devotions to encourage you

Different Tickets, Same Boat!

Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous; but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it. Jeremiah 10:19 KJV

T he book you are holding is written by this single mother to encourage and help you, no matter your status as a single mom.

I was thrust into single parenting when my children, Jay and Holly, were ten and eight. Today, both are college graduates, employed, happily married, and fully responsible adults. And neither sold drugs, stole cars, or turned out to be an ax murderer.

I say that to encourage you, especially if you are new to single parenting. Too often if we listen to the media, we fear for our childrens futures. After all, we hear the tragic stories featuring those raised in one of the fourteen million single-parent homes in the United States.

But even though those numbers are high, our children are not statistics. So dont listen to your fears and dont lose hope because of scary media reports. Listen instead to the Lord and draw on your own God-given strength. You can walk this path and you can arrive at the finish linenot only as a survivor but as a victor.

I confess I never expected to write about single parenting. After all, my plans included taking care of my family, being a good cook, and creating fun holidays while teaching full-time. Parenting children on my own just wasnt part of the deal. Thus, Ive learned far more than I ever wanted to know about being a single mother since that December afternoon when brain cancer defeated my husband and spun me into a role I had not wanted and had not planned on. The following devotions, however, feature not my widowhood but the common struggles and victories we share as single motherswhether widowed or divorced; raising grandchildren or having adopted; married with husbands absent because of military duty, prison, illness, or addiction; or never married but having chosen giving birth and parenting instead of abortion.

Yes, each status carries specific challenges, but no matter how we came on board, we all are in the same boat. So lets encourage each other.

When my husband died, everyone hovered around mefor two weekswhispering, Oh, you poor dear. But when several of my friends had divorce thrust upon them or had to choose it to protect themselves and their children from terrible abuse, some of them were treated like lepers. Yes, grief from death is a deep cut, but its a clean cut. The grief that accompanies many other single-parenting situations is deep and jagged.

I also want to encourage those never-married mothers who have bravely rejected the option of abortion. They have determined, with Gods help and with that of family and friends, to raise their children themselves. If you are one of those mothers, let me thank you for not aborting your child. God is not finished with any of us yet. And I am convinced he will bring his good out of your wise, and perhaps sacrificial, decision.