I have made a new friend. As we sat together drinking tea and eating lunch, I listened to her share a bit about her life. I was captivated by how God has carried her along each step of her path. Even in the crushing blows, God was manifest. As she told me about one of the most painful chapters of her life story, all I had to say was, “’He took bread, blessed and broke it…’” She said, “Exactly.”

How are you broken? Are there ways being a mother has brought you to the breaking point? Maybe your body has been broken in pregnancy and childbirth. Maybe your life plans have been broken by a new child. Maybe your career was broken by your role as a mother. Most days, your comfort and control are broken. And yet a mother’s brokenness is special, a glimpse of divine life. A mother’s brokenness is often for others. It is a way she may participate in Christ’s offering of his body, blood, soul, and life, for someone else. May we unite our brokenness to that of Christ, so that his suffering may be complete.

“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.” (Col. 1:24)