My Posts Elsewhere
I’ve had the honor of guest posting at some fantastic sites. Please stop by and tell them I sent you!
Community Post: Breath of Life at The High Calling
Investing well and Mother Teresa at Amy L Sullivan
Integration Teaching {Bringing Happiness to Venn Diagrams} at The Teachers’ Lounge
In which we have a frank chat about my marital status at In.A.Mirror.Dimly by Ed Cyzewski.
Lessons I learned from my first jobs at Red Letter Believers by David Rupert
Taste my enthusiasm at Teachers and Twits by Renée A. Schuls-Jacobson
The Messy Middle 
So nice to meet you Amy! I am a friend of LeAnne’s and love the three degrees of separation. Your writing is amazing and so rich and vivid. Awesome blog!!
So, you’re the Lanessa from the text I received from LeAnne this morning! Nice to meet you and, yes, these degrees of separation remind me that we are far more connected than I imagined. Thanks for commenting since I wanted to say “hey” myself but didn’t know how to find you! Amy
Thank you, Amy. As a pastor I have been aware of this painful reality on Mothers Day for years…so I’ve mostly just not really celebrated it in church. Maybe that is an over reaction, but I was unwilling to hurt a few to honor a majority. I always simply acknowledged that it was Mothers Day and left it at that.
However, wherever you got that liturgical writing, original or borrowed, it it wonderful. It acknowledges all of the women who have had brushes of one sort or another with being a mother, as well as those for whom it has been a rewarding, joyous experience.
I’ve written a great deal of liturgy in 30 years. That piece is pricelessly well written and thought out. I may not be in charge of any more worship services…but I will share this with all the clergy I know. Most of them will respond with understanding and compassion. A few will continue to “know” what’s best for all people everywhere!
Good message.
Terry Tomlinson
Terry, thank you for your kind words. I wrote it. And there is an updated version here: http://www.messymiddle.com/2012/05/10/an-open-letter-to-pastors-a-non-mom-speaks-about-mothers-day/ (with a PDF to help!). Amy
Amy – I love the inclusive wishes for mothers and non-mothers. I added a couple shown in parenthesis:
To those who lost a child this year (or earlier) – we mourn with you
(To those who have a child in prison for wrong choices and mistakes made, we wish they are free soon)
(To those whose children suffer from difficult and chronic diseases, we ache for you)
Each addition is based on friends we know.
Dear Amy, like Terry, I’m deeply moved by the liturgical prayer in your post about Mother’s Day. I am a pastor in The United Church of Christ, and would love to have your permission to use this prayer in worship on Sunday. I would do it responsively, so that one voice reads the beginning and the congregation finishes with the “we need…” “we celebrate…” etc. I actually found this post through one of my church members on Facebook. The rest of your blog is wonderful, too. I hope that people will seek it out. Thank you for considering it.
Sounds good! And you can get an updated version at http://www.messymiddle.com/2012/05/10/an-open-letter-to-pastors-a-non-mom-speaks-about-mothers-day/
My wife brought me to your blog…and I appreciated your writing on this topic. My first thought after reading your blog was the same as Morisse’s. A responsive litany. Amy would I have your permission to use it in my congregation as well?
I would also like to repost your blog on my blog page as well for others to read, including a direct link to your page. May I do that as well?
Thank you and bless your continued ministry of heart.
Hi Ron, I learned something from you! I was excited to see you’re from Denver (so am I), but then I saw we’re not from the same Denver :). I didn’t know there was a Denver, Iowa. Good to know! Yes, please feel free to share! and post (and give the http://messymiddle.com site, please not this wordpress one, thanks!)
Here’s the updated version: http://www.messymiddle.com/2012/05/10/an-open-letter-to-pastors-a-non-mom-speaks-about-mothers-day/ (complete with a PDF version of “the wide spectrum of mothering)
And I’ve also created 10 ideas for pastors on Mother’s Day — http://www.messymiddle.com/2013/05/09/10-ideas-for-pastors-on-mothers-day/
Dear Amy,
I found you because a friend re-posted your mother’s day post. I have since devoured many posts. So much of what you say hits gong bells inside of me. It almost feels like you’re like an older, wiser, and more articulate version of myself! Of course, you’re not, and we’re perhaps just similar in superficial ways (like being the eldest grandchildren, and former unpopulated Mountain-state girls now surviving urban China’s pollution, and having vaguely similar former jobs, etc.), but still – it is a joy to find you on the internet. And some of your blog posts do read like much deeper expressions of what I’ve felt but could not say.
I shall have to follow your blog now. And, actually, I have to ask: how do you feel about meeting fans in person? I’m going to be in Beijing the first week of June to visit a friend and… well, I could get you food, or coffee, or stop by your office or something. :0
Thank you for the encouragement this blog has brought into my life! And the ideas. I have had my students do different kinds of graphs of things like happiness and movie plots. But I’ve never gone for formulas. I know some of them will love it!
love,
Morielle
Morielle … you’re funny! I’ll email you and hopefully we can meet :). And have you found the updated version of the blog? Over at messymiddle.com. Looking forward to meeting you! Amy