The Sweetest Mother's Day Gift!

Dear boy mom, 

You are a soldier. 

I know the days are long. Most of the time you’re still trying to find your purpose. You trust in God, but not a day goes by when you don’t understand why He didn’t give you a daughter. You often think about how things would be much different if God had blessed you with a baby girl instead. You trust God’s will, and you love your baby boy, but sometimes you still don’t understand why He didn’t answer your prayers. 

I know you don’t say these things out loud, they simply live in a dark corner of your heart. You’re thankful for your blessings, but sometimes it’s just hard to understand. I know how you feel mama, because I feel the same way sometimes, too. 

I remember each time we found out I was carrying (yet another) boy. I remember how terrible I felt that I was crying in that moment. I was thrilled to have a healthy baby growing inside of me . . . but I couldn’t help but feel sadness. I wanted to be a mommy to a baby girl so badly. 

I used to think the Lord didn’t bless me with a daughter because we would have a toxic relationship. Maybe I was bound to encounter some mother-daughter dynamics I am just not equipped to handle. Maybe I wouldn’t be able to raise a daughter the way He would like me to. Maybe that’s why God gave me sons, I thought.

One day, I poured out my deep insecurities to a trusted friend. This wonderful woman is seasoned in the ways of motherhood. She has influenced my life in so many ways. She reassured me I am a good mother. She told me I should look at things from a different perspective. She said, “Raising boys is much more responsibility. God’s trusted you with a difficult job.” My friend helped me realize God hadn’t ignored my prayers, I just hadn’t been seeking to fully understand His answers. 

I realized my friend had spoken truth to my heart. Raising boys is harder. So today, I’d like to share some of that wisdom with you, mama. I know what it’s like to need to hear these things, because I often long for a daughter, too. 

First, I’d like to remind you God chose you to raise a knight. You are responsible for discipling to your son, and that is a huge job God believes you can do. 

Secondly, please realize God has challenged you to raise up a Godly man in a society that’s decaying each day. Think about how fallen this world is, and it isn’t getting any better. God has entrusted you as a woman in charge of raising a man after God’s own heart. He must think highly of you! 

Thirdly, God has given you influence over someone’s future husband. One thing our world is severely lacking is men who put the Lord first. I can’t tell you how many single friends I have who are having trouble meeting men who possess enough faith to be spiritual leaders in their relationships. God has placed you in the imperative role of raising a future husband. You get to teach your son how to love God with his whole heart so he can love his wife well. You are blessing your future daughter-in-law by raising him to be a great man. 

Speaking of daughters-in-law, the next thing I’d like to remind you is that you’ll get to be an extended mother figure in her life. What a blessing it will be to have a son who searches for a wife who loves the Lord deeply. Not only will it be amazing for you to watch this Godly couple form, but she will likely fill a place in your family you’ve always been missing. If you raise your boy to hold his standards high, he will bring home a girl who you’ll be happy to call “daughter”. 

Most importantly, you get to be the person who teaches that future man about God’s word. You get to show that boy how to turn to God in every endeavor of his life. You are responsible for teaching him God’s truths. By living a life that honors the Lord, you are teaching your son to seek God in everything he does. It’s a huge responsibility, but God must think you’re a wonderful fit for the job. 

Are you feeling better yet, my friend? I sure hope you are, because thinking about these things certainly lifts up my spirits on the days when I don’t understand why God didn’t bless me with a girl. 

No one else can mother that boy like you do, mama. God gave you that boy for a reason. Teach him to live his life so people see undeniable proof of God’s love. 

You’ve got this, mama. I believe in you. Our God believes in you. I’m praying for you all the way. Would you please pray for me, too? 

Originally published on the author’s blog

So God Made a Grandmother book by Leslie Means

If you liked this, you'll love our book, SO GOD MADE A GRANDMA

Order Now!

Tiffany Rodriguez

Tiffany falls somewhere on the spectrum between Proverbs 31 and Tupac. She's a Jesus following wife and a mother of three boys. Tiffany is raising her family in the beautiful So Cal Mountains. She is a city girl turned mountain mama, and she's committed to raising her little dudes up as men after God's own heart. Aside from writing, Tiffany enjoys creating art, face painting for parties, cooking, and all things beauty. She is a self proclaimed lipstick and perfume hoarder . . . but that may be because she's determined to keep her femininity in a house full of rambunctious boys! You can follow Tiffany on her blog and on FacebookTwitter, and Pinterest for more posts about how she survives the #boymom life.

Your Worth Is Not Someone Else’s To Measure

In: Faith, Living
Woman looking over canyon

Insecurity is something we all carry in one form or another. For me, it has probably always looked confident and outgoing from the outside. But internally, it can feel heavy, complicated, and exhausting at times. And when someone comes along whose behavior reinforces those insecurities, it amplifies what was already there. There was someone I had hoped to genuinely connect with, but it was clear from the start that the feeling wasn’t mutual. From the beginning, their wall was up. No matter how kind I tried to be or how carefully I showed up, it never came down. Their distance...

Keep Reading

Lord, Give Me Faith Like Hannah

In: Faith
Woman walking in field with hand in wheat

Hannah knew what it was like to feel forgotten. She often clutched her empty womb and thought Surely the Lord has forgotten me.  She knew the bitter sting of feeling isolated and alone. She knew the anguish of praying day after day after day and seeing no fruit, not even a bud, from her faithfulness. Hannah knew what it was like to feel like the weight of the world was on her, and her hope may have dwindled. Even those around her did not offer encouragement. Quite the opposite—they did their best to sow seeds of discouragement. Yet Hannah pressed...

Keep Reading

God Carries Me Through the Deep Waters of Change

In: Faith, Living, Motherhood
Woman at the beach as waves come in

“Ahhh!” My underwater scream garbled in my snorkel tube as the manta ray’s cavernous mouth swept a hand’s distance from my face. My fingers tightened around the surfboard until my knuckles ached. My arms trembled. I jerked my head side to side, searching for my daughters, Mia and Megan. Recent college graduates, they had joined me on one last mother-daughter vacation before launching their adult lives. They floated easily on the vibrant Hawaiian water, relaxed, trusting. I wanted to borrow their calm. Earlier, our guide had explained that the LED lights built into the surfboard attracted plankton the way college...

Keep Reading

Faith After a Rare Disease Diagnosis

In: Faith, Motherhood
Family smiling in posed photo

My pastor frequently speaks of “kid pain” and acknowledges there’s nothing like it. I can testify to that. After nine months of uncertainty and unexplained issues following the birth of our now 4-year-old daughter, Harlow, we finally received her diagnosis of Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Complex Deficiency (PDCD), a life-limiting mitochondrial disease with no cure and no FDA-approved treatments. It was heartbreaking. In moments like these, a parent can fall into complete desperation. You go through a range of emotions almost too fast to name: fear for your child’s life; anxiousness about how much time you’ll get with them; overwhelming grief. And...

Keep Reading

What If I Don’t Hear God’s Voice?

In: Faith
Woman with folded hands looking up

There have been many times over the years when I’ve heard others share stories of how the Lord spoke to them or gave them a sign. Seashells scattered along a sandy beach, numbered to represent how many children they would have. A quiet walk in the park, followed by a clear sense that another little one was coming. What a blessing, I think, when I hear and read their stories. I often wonder how much more faith they must have than I do—to know with such certainty that what they heard was truly God speaking. I listen, I smile, and...

Keep Reading

God Holds You As You Hold Everyone Else

In: Faith, Motherhood
Mother holding toddler daughter on her hip, standing outside

She stands in the kitchen, hands trembling over the sink, tears she cannot let fall pressing behind her eyes. The world outside her window is quiet, but inside her heart there is a storm she cannot name. She is hurting, not because she does not love her life, but because somewhere along the way she forgot how to breathe inside it. Yet even in her pain, little voices call her name. Tiny hands tug at her shirt. Lunchboxes need packing, homework needs checking, hearts need holding. And so she wipes her face, forces a smile, and whispers a quiet prayer:...

Keep Reading

Yes, I Know Fear—but I Also Know Faith

In: Faith, Motherhood
Mother holding child's hands in hospital bed

The night my daughter woke up screaming at 3 a.m., I knew something was wrong. Her cry wasn’t the half-asleep whimper of a bad dream. Instead, it was pain—raw and sharp. Within an hour, we were rushing to the emergency room, the world outside our headlights still wrapped in darkness. Tests, scans, questions, and then the words no parent ever wants to hear: “We’re transferring her to another hospital by ambulance. She needs surgery right away.” They said “torsion.” They said “tumor.” They said “appendix.” I nodded, because that’s what mothers do. We stay steady, even when our hearts are...

Keep Reading

10 Years after My Mother’s Death, Her Faith Still Guides Me

In: Faith, Grief
Woman praying

Growing up, I was a reluctant Catholic. My mother would drag us to church, and I’d go through the motions—fingers moving across rosary beads without really feeling the prayers. But she never stopped. Sunday Mass, daily prayers, devotions to the Blessed Mother. She was relentless in her faith, not because she was trying to force it on us, but because she genuinely believed we would need it someday. She was right. My mother died of stage 4 colon cancer in 2012. My brother and I watched her suffer, saw how her body betrayed her, watched as treatments failed. And here’s...

Keep Reading

Finding God in the Middle of Disbelief: A Mom’s Journey through Faith and Fear

In: Faith
Mother holding hand of young child, silhouette

“But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not triumph over me.” – Jeremiah 20:11 God, thank You for making sure my son is okay. Thank You for this just being paranoia. I believe in You. I believe in Your control. I believe. I believe. I believe. These words streamed through my head as my husband drove us downtown to visit our first specialist with our 4-month-old son, Maximus. Our pediatrician had written me off, but I could not ignore the feeling in my bones that something was wrong. Tiny, hard bumps...

Keep Reading

In Praise of Indebtedness: How Threads of Reciprocity Weave Us Together

In: Faith, Living
Woman holding casserole

It all started with tomatoes. After we moved, a neighbor invited us to pick from the abundance in her and her husband’s gardens. In return for a pile of tomatoes gathered from their raised beds, I left a plastic bag of homegrown pumpkins on their porch. Later that summer, our neighbor stopped by with a recycled container full of still more fruits. By the fall, we were sharing chili and cookies over dinner at our place. Threads of indebtedness were weaving us together. For most of my life, the idea of indebtedness has tasted rather repulsive on my tongue. The...

Keep Reading