美娜是三個孩子的母親，她說：「我根本就不喜歡母親節。因為這個節日會讓我想起，自己是個很糟糕、很失敗的母親。」

美娜帶著很高的期望開始了她為人母的生活，但現實迫使她一再降低標準。美娜說：「當媽媽真的是我人生最大的挑戰。」特別是其中一個孩子總是讓她生氣和失望。

上帝選擇讓利亞成為以色列的一族之母，為雅各生兒育女。當時利亞必然對每個孩子都有很高的期望，而她給頭四個兒子的名字都與她當時面對的困境有關（創世記29章32-35節）。但是後來聖經所記載的灰暗故事中，利亞的兒子們扮演的都是壞人的角色，有的是殺人凶手（34章24-30節），有的是人口販子（37章17-28節）。她其中一個兒子猶大，還在聖經其中一個見不得人的故事中成了反派角色（38章）。

但上帝卻從利亞之子猶大的子孫中，興起一位彌賽亞。上帝藉著最艱困的環境、最不被看好的人，進行祂的救贖計劃。

這也是美娜的領悟。在面對身為母親的種種挑戰時，她發現唯一的辦法就是繼續努力、繼續禱告。那個總是讓她生氣和失望的孩子怎樣了？如今他已經長大成人，對美娜敬愛有加。回首往事，美娜說：「或許上帝將這孩子賜給我，是要讓我更認識自己和這位上帝。」

“I really didn’t like Mother’s Day,” said Donna, a mom of three. “It brought back to me all the inadequacies and failures I felt and feel as a mother.”

Donna started her parenting life with high expectations. Reality lowered the bar. “Being a mother was really the hardest thing I ever did,” she said. And one particular child “pushed every button I had.”

When God chose Leah to be a matriarch of Israel, no doubt she had high expectations for each of her children. She gave her first four sons names with relevance to her difficult situation (Genesis 29:32-35). Yet when it comes to dark stories in the Bible, these sons have starring roles as the bad guys. Some were guilty as murderers (34:24-30) and slavers (37:17-28). Leah’s son Judah is the villain in one of the uglier accounts in Scripture (ch. 38).

How like God to bring the Messiah through Leah’s descendants—including Judah. In the most difficult circumstances and through the most unexpected people, God works out redemption.

Donna learned this too. As she faced all her parenting challenges, she never found an answer “except to keep going and keep praying.” And that kid who pushed all her buttons? He’s grown now, and he loves and respects his mom. Looking back, Donna says, “Perhaps he was sent to me to teach me something about myself and something about my God.”