Dear Ukrainian Mother,
From one mother to another, as I read your Facebook posts, my mother’s heart is stirred, wanting to reach out and say words that offer comfort, build your faith, bring you peace, strengthen your hope, and encourage your confidence that God is with you.
Still, I’m hesitant in what words I extend to you, wanting to be sensitive and cautious to the delicate and volatile setting of your situation, realizing my heart doesn’t truly know the depth of what you're experiencing day-in and day-out.
It’s too easy watching from afar to be misled into thinking we comprehend what you are going through during this horrific time. But in reality, how could we possibly understand the depth of your emotions, thoughts, and concerns?
In my sincere attempt to speak words into the midst of your situation, please remember God is with you. He is present. He hasn’t left you. Hebrews 13:5 reminds us how God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
Although it may seem at times like much of the world is watching heartlessly without caring, doing nothing in response to your cries for help, please know there are so many of us who deeply care and are concerned for you and your families.
Many mothers, like me, look forward to reading your words each day, open and willing to gain insight from what you’re walking through daily during this crisis time with your family, friends, and country. We check to see how you're holding up and how to pray for you.
Although you may feel outnumbered, we’re out here around the world, many on our knees, many who are fasting and praying for God’s leading in your situation, for His divine protection over your lives, with heartfelt pleas for Him to abundantly meet your needs, carry your burdens, and free you from this horror.
Like the Prophet Elisha explained to his servant when seeing all who stood against them, with their armies upon horses and chariots surrounding the city, “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (2 Kings 6:16).
As a mother myself, I’m guessing at times you have mixed emotions about remaining in your country with your family, rather than fleeing and leaving your home. But if God has told you to stay put, you know there is no safer place for you and your family to be during these tumultuous times.
As national pride is at its height in your country, there is still no higher loyalty in life than our devotion to God. Countries rise and fall but their kingdoms are temporary; whereas, Christ's kingdom will reign forever.
Like another mother, Mary, who also experienced turbulent times while raising her child, we hold on like she did, to God’s promises that His kingdom will never fall. “You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; His kingdom will never end.” Luke 1:31-33
Resembling the Proverbs 31 woman, we are seeing you clothed with strength and dignity (Proverbs 31:25), amazed and inspired by your fortitude, courage, and resistance on display for the whole world to see, even in the midst of such a chaotic and devastating situation.
We understand if you are struggling in carrying the responsibility of your family’s well-being and safety. Most likely, mothers around the world are asking how your heart is able to bear up day after day under such a difficult situation.
But those of us who know Christ understand how you are able to endure, by relying on God’s strength to carry you through each day, remembering the Apostle Paul’s words: “I can do all this through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).
And you will endure because Jesus has assured us that even when wickedness multiplies and most hearts grow cold, those who persevere to the end will be saved (Matthew 14:12-13).
As a mother, you have such a great influence in the lives of your family, and now even more so as the whole world watches you.
Along with helping to steer your children’s paths in life, you are also leading other mothers who are observing you. Mothers around the world are taking your words to heart and following your leading, watching and following your example in caring for your family.
In this time in history, please know the images and stories of Ukrainian mothers covering their babies' bodies with their own bodies to protect them from shrapnel is beyond moving and inspirational. It’s a living testament of the kind of sacrificial, caring heart God places in mothers.
Even though you didn’t ask to be at the forefront of this sacrificial type of motherly leadership, and most likely would have turned it down if offered, the world is watching you. You are revealing the heart of mothering to a world where many women and mothers have lost their way and given up their hope for the promise of future lives; women who have discarded their God-given desire and privilege to be the bearer of a tiny human life.
In a world where mothers are surrendering their babies in their wombs, handing them over to be discarded, Ukrainian mothers are standing strong and courageous, modeling the true essence and heart of what motherhood is all about; of being willing to sacrifice their lives to the point of death to save the lives of their babies.
In John 15:12-13, Jesus explains this type of sacrificial love, the kind He places in a mother’s heart. “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
God loves you, Ukrainian mother, and we love you, too. Please keep sharing your heart with us, knowing my heart, along with many mothers around the world, is going out to you with love, compassion, kindness, and so much more.
You matter to God and to us, and we care about your life and the lives of your family. Our hearts are grieved to see the suffering and losses you are experiencing on a daily basis.
Keep looking to God for your help, knowing, “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles” (Psalm 34:17).
As you cry out to God, please know there are those of us who are crying out along with you, seeking God in how to pray for you and looking to Him to watch over you.
We are joining with you in prayer during these most difficult days and hearing your call for your sisters-in-Christ to pray for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:25).
In His love,
From One Mother to Another
Photo Credit: © Ben White/Unsplash
Lynette Kittle is married with four daughters. She enjoys writing about faith, marriage, parenting, relationships, and life. Her writing has been published by Focus on the Family, Decision, Today’s Christian Woman, kirkcameron.com, Ungrind.org, StartMarriageRight.com, and more. She has a M.A. in Communication from Regent University and serves as associate producer for Soul Check TV.