This past week I watched my coworker say goodbye to her only son of 25 years. To say it tore me to pieces is an understatement. I have two young men myself. No mother is ever prepared for that, especially when it is unexpected. A young vibrant life – now gone. There’s a space in your heart that will forever be left empty.
I couldn’t help but think about the mothers whose sons are here but gone. Estranged, broken relationships, incarcerated for life, prisoned in a psychiatric ward or imprisoned by their addictions. The pain is real. There’s no freedom to touch, to hold or to kiss. Hearts are left splintered, dreams shattered and a place at the table empty. There’s a depth of suffering and agony that one can only understand from experience. We may not be able to fully understand this unless we’ve walked that road. We stand in prayer for these ‘absent’ sons today.
So, if your imperfect son is near by you today- be grateful. Can you touch him? See him smile? Hear his laughter? Smell his funky socks? Argue with him another day? Be thankful that your heart does not know the torture of a son gone.
I shared a portion of this prayer on a prior post. It still holds true today:
***Thanks for reading – Pray for a son today.
Restored Hearts 
Thank you. I have three children: a boy, 7, a girl, 4, and another boy, 2. The older two, their dad is in state prison. My youngest, his dad passed away at age 26, when my son was four months old. I know I can’t imagine the pain of losing a child, I hope I’ll never know it. I have compassion in my heart for their mothers, and it really reframes my family’s situation–while their dads might not be here, we have each other, and first and foremost we have Papa God.👆🏻 Love this.
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Melissa, your story is one of courage and strength. Thankfully you have a Heavenly Father who walks with you through this. Especially when the days are long and you feel weary. Thanks for sharing and know that God will fill in the missing pieces. Loss of any kind is painful but I don’t want to imagine what it feels like losing a child. My son also lost his dad at 2 months. That’s a whole different story. ❤️❤️
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Re: that prayer: In Jesus name. Amen!
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Amen!🙏🏾🙏🏾
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I have a 19 year old son 19 who I love dearly, he’s my baby and alway will be. I cannot even begin to think of anything happening to him. Let’s pray for not only our boys but our children
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We pray, we love…we support.🙏🏾❤️
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A beautiful prayer that captures these truths perfectly.
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Thanks for reading as always. We never cease praying…
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A lovely prayer.
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Man, just the thought of it hurts my soul 🥲. Puts into perspective the petty things you fuss about.
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You got that right!
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Indeed, no parent, wants to say goodbye, to a part of their heart! Even though, my daughter has passed, we still have two son. Father, I pray your strength, your peace, over the heart of this family! In Jesus’ name, Amen!
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Amen! God sits with us in pain…that’s comforting.
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Blessings!
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Thanks for this sobering reminder to be continuously grateful for my beloved son and to bathe him in prayer. I pause and remember in prayer those who are today without the son(s) they have birth or raised.
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I so agree Averil…this has been quite a sobering season for me on so many levels.
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