Comforted to be Comforters

I was not a member of a sorority in college. They didn't even have sororities at the nearly all-girl nursing school that I attended. However, becoming the mother of a special needs child, I joined a "sorority" of sorts. This was not a group that I ever had aspirations to be a part of, and it took me a few years to fully accept that I was a member of this group whether I liked it or not.

A long day of training in Dallas with another mother of a special needs child more than 13 years ago caused me to realize how very much I needed this connection with someone who truly KNEW what I was going through. It wasn't long after our first meeting, Marti and I began talking about the idea of starting a support group for other mothers of special needs children. This group called MOMS (Moms Offering Moms Support) is still going strong today, even though I am rarely able to attend the meetings.

One of the highlights of attending the CMN event last week (mentioned in my previous post), was reconnecting with several mothers who were a part of our MOMS group in those early years. I felt like I was at a family reunion, seeing members of my family that I had not seen in a very long time....I was so happy to see them! Even though we have not spoken in years, it felt like yesterday that we were sharing our struggles, hopes and dreams with one another. We were in the trenches together.

Sadly, two of these moms have lost their precious children since we last saw each other. Listening to their stories of how their children spent their last days was sad, but also full of hope. You see, both of these ladies have the assurance that their children are now WHOLE in every way and they will see them again one day. It was encouraging for me to see how the Lord has sustained these women and given them the strength that they've needed to go on. They are not just surviving, but they are thriving.

I was reminded of how much we women need each other. Two of my favorite Bible verses are 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in ALL our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. We are not comforted to be comfortable but to be comforters!

Whatever you've been through in your life...the good, the bad, and the ugly...God can use it to minister to someone who might be going through something similar IF you'll let Him. With these thoughts fresh in my mind, a friend and I drove to Dallas today to spend some time with a special needs mom whose son is currently in ICU at Children's Medical Center.