(This is a repost from May 14, 2012. It is the most shared/pinned post of anything I’ve written which tells me there are many who are grieving over being childless not by choice. This Mother’s Day, may we keep these brokenhearted in our thoughts and prayers.)
A Prayer For The Owner Of The Empty Swing
the swing sits silently no child to make it go
was there an accident or infertility, this I do not know
could it be her finger never a ring did wear
time traversed just leaving with the owner one solitary tear
or did the owners after patient waiting, joyously conceive
but shortly after news brought pain and with it cause to grieve
was there a child who daily toddled to this backyard swing
til illness came and whisked away on heaven angel wing
not understanding why they were robbed of their intent
I offer up this prayer for the owners who lament
would God please comfort these childless downhearted
replace with hope and faith the dreams that have departed
may these earthly trials and sorrows that crush and take their toll
lead them to the Fathers arms which are waiting to console
fill up the empty places with the vastness of your love
remind them of your promise of eternal life above
Lisa Hempel
May 2012
I have been incredibly blessed by my awesome husband and children and my heart is truly grateful. But I could not, would not forget that for so many dear ones, Mother’s Day is a day of hurt, pain and emptiness. There are many among us who are Childless Not By Choice, a title of which I have only recently been made aware. But my heart grieves with these wonderful loving women who because of one circumstance or another are childless. I dedicate this poem in your honor. To those who have yearned to be married and have a family, but you faithfully plod on in your singleness. To those who have struggled and been ravaged by infertility, yet you graciously attend your friends’ baby showers and their toddlers’ creatively themed birthday parties. To those who have known the joy and amazement of seeing your baby’s head crown as he is miraculously birthed into this world and you’ve held her precious little hand for a day or a decade only to have her taken home way before your time. There is a comforter. There is a joy giver. There is one who is able to heal your wounds. You are not alone. He is there. LH
I look behind me and you’re there, then up ahead and you’re there, too— your reassuring presence, coming and going. This is too much, too wonderful— I can’t take it all in! Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit? to be out of your sight? If I climb to the sky, you’re there! If I go underground, you’re there! If I flew on morning’s wings to the far western horizon, You’d find me in a minute—you’re already there waiting! Then I said to myself, “Oh, he even sees me in the dark! At night I’m immersed in the light!” It’s a fact: darkness isn’t dark to you; night and day, darkness and light, they’re all the same to you. Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day. Psalm 139:5-16 MSG
Click on the Link below for this week’s Bible Study.
Meditations for those Childless Not By Choice
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