“My mom is crazy!” I have often heard women say that about their own mothers, often worrying that they were going to end up just like them. The good news, I tell daughters, is that if you can recognize her craziness, you stand a better chance of not repeating her pattern.
But before you write your mother off, I want to ask you to take a moment and reflect on who she is, what she has been through, and how she has impacted your life. While you might be able to give me a hundred reasons as to why you are hurt and entitled to write her off, I want to suggest to you that there is a reason this woman is your mother.
The reason is God.
I don’t know why God does some of the things He does but what I do know is that God always has a reason for doing what He does. So if I believe that God gave you a mother who makes you crazy or one you don’t understand, then my question to you is “How can this experience make you more God dependent?” What did God want you to learn about His character and faithfulness from this relationship that you may not have learned from any other relationship?
Rick Warren launched his best-selling book “The Purpose Driven Life” with the sentence, “It’s not about you!” If we are going to embrace this thought as truth, then we can frame our difficult relationships through the filter of our challenges reflecting God’s plan for our life, not our own.
Your mother may be dysfunctional but she is the most important woman you will ever know. Whether she is a great mom or a poor one, she is the one God is going to use to drive you to trust Him at a deeper level.
I am not saying it is easy or painless.
I am saying that it is not in vain.
I am also saying that you have the opportunity to use the difficulties of your relationship with your mom to make you an amazing and wonderful woman.
