Mother’s Day is this weekend in the United States and for most of us that means celebration mingled with some kind of grief. Many women are childless for a variety of reasons: infertility, miscarriage, child loss, they made an adoption plan, they chose abortion, they never married, and more. The reasons are varied and complex and the weight of that is felt especially on Mother’s Day.

Motherhood is a beautiful and worthwhile gift. We celebrate it and praise the Lord for it! At the same time, we acknowledge that our society and our churches often fall woefully short when it comes to conversations and beliefs about motherhood and children.

Chelsea Patterson Sobolik joins us on All Things today to discuss all of this, as well as the intrinsic worth of women no matter their story regarding children. Chelsea is uniquely situated for this conversation because of her own story, plus her years of writing about and advocating for both women and children. She is herself an adoptee and an adoptive mom, at the age of nineteen she learned she could never have biological children, and she works daily on behalf of vulnerable women and children. Her perspective is both deep and wide when it comes to womanhood, motherhood, children, and the worth and dignity of every human life.

This episode will benefit you if:

- You ever wondered what a woman’s role or worth is if she has no children.

- You or someone you love experiences childlessness for any reason.

- You are a friend or ministry leader to women who suffer grief on Mother’s Day and you don’t know what to say.

- You suffer for any reason and you’re looking for hope.

- You struggle to reconcile your losses with a loving God.

- You need a hopeful vision for your future.

Recommended Resources:

Longing For Motherhood: Holding On to Hope in the Midst of Childlessness by Chelsea Patterson Sobolik: https://us.10ofthose.com/product/9780802416124/longing-for-motherhood-paperback?affiliate=jenoshman

Waiting In Hope: 31 Reflections for Walking with God Through Infertility by Kelley Ramsey and Jenn Hesse: https://amzn.to/42meyxS

Cultural Counterfeits: Confronting 5 Empty Promises of Our Age and How We Were Made for So Much More by Jen Oshman: https://us.10ofthose.com/product/9781433576324/cultural-counterfeits-paperback

Risen Motherhood: Gospel Hope for Everyday Moments by Emily Jensen and Laura Wifler: https://us.10ofthose.com/product/9780736976220/risen-motherhood-hardback

Missional Motherhood: The Everyday Ministry of Motherhood in the Grand Plan of God by Gloria Furman: https://us.10ofthose.com/product/9781433552274/missional-motherhood-paperback

Follow Chelsea on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chelseasobolik/