Excerpts from Hugs for Single Moms

"Be grateful for the home you have, knowing that at this moment, all you have is all you need." - Sarah Ban Breathnach

As a single mom you may be one of the greatest tightrope walkers who ever lived. Even you don't know how you manage to balance and juggle so many things. Nor do you know how you can be so many things to so many people. You take multitasking to a whole new level. Yet somehow you make it look easy, for there is a grace in your life.

It's OK to feel like taking a bow at the next Academy Awards ceremony. We'd all like to see the most accomplished actress try to pull off your role. You laugh when you feel like crying. You're strong though you feel weak. You allow others to lean on you when you'd like - just for a little while - to do some leaning yourself.

It would be fun, though, to sometimes change circumstances: to never again have to worry about bouncing a check or making the mortgage payment. It would be nice to have someone else clean your refrigerator, buy your groceries, and mop your floors.

But it's doubtful you'd ever consider changing roles: not with Donald Trump or Bill Gates, in spite of their mansions and millions. Because they have never been, nor will they ever become, a mother. For all its difficulties and challenges, yours is the role you were created to fill. You are the leading lady on the stage of your child's life, and that's worth everything. Go ahead.......take a bow.

It's easy, when you've been hurt, to put up walls to guard your emotions and protect you from pain. The problem is that sometimes it backfires. While walls might keep certain types of pain at bay, they can also block opportunities for joy. They can keep you from seeing the great gift of each new day and the blessing of rich, new relationships.

Sure, it's tough when disappointment hardens your heart and pain adds another layer of doubt and distrust. There's wisdom in protecting yourself - to a point. But the defenses that keep out hurt can also hinder real intimacy with others. They can cause you to keep your emotional distance and even hold back a part of your heart God intended for your children.

There is a time to mourn. There is a time to heal. There is a time to rejoice in new beginnnings. The key is allowing God to impart the wisdom for each new season in its proper time. Don't think for a minute He isn't working for and with you. Even now He is softening your heart and making it new. He's all about healing and restoration.

So don't let fear hold you back from a fabulous future. God formed you in your mother's womb. He has a plan to give you hope. He's giving it to you now, because you are God's great gift to others.