By: Annette Spurr
Every mother, if she’s honest, will tell you that motherhood is both their greatest honour and hardest struggle.
Loss of identity, parenting fails and search for purpose are just some of the issues mothers face every day.
Mirette Abraham was just embarking on her career as a medical doctor in Sydney, when she found herself in the trenches of motherhood, faced with the realisation that her life was not ‘instagramable,’ like other families seemed to be. In fact, she found herself struggling with anxiety and depression, plagued by the thought that she wasn’t fulfilling her purposes, or living out the life God set out for her.
Mirette decided to document her journey toward redefining her identity and purpose in her book, ‘Mama, I See You. Finding Glimmers of Hope in the Trenches of Motherhood.’ Through its pages, Mirette shares her struggles with motherhood and her career.
Mirette said, “I’m hoping to unveil everything that keeps us from fulfilling the perfect life that our Lord has in store for us and to encourage us all to reflect on how He uses everything and everyone in our path to make that mystery known. Throughout the chapters, I share my personal journey of reflection and bring to light my Lord’s love and grace in my motherhood—both the struggles He allows and the flowers that bloom in the wreckage.”
Mirette also shared her grief at losing a baby, and paints a strikingly beautiful picture of belonging in the experience of such a personal pain.
Lessons Learnt in the Cancer Ward
Watch the interview with Mirette
As a cancer doctor and treating terminally ill patients, it was in hospital wards and kneeling at bedsides where Mirette truly discovered God’s heart for each of us as we journey through life. Whether you are struggling through motherhood, career, or an unimaginable diagnosis, He sees you and although His silence may seem deafening, He has never left your side. The ‘Man of Sorrow’ knows. He knows.
In ‘Mama, I See You,’ Mirette says, “His presence becomes the key to embracing our pain. In His presence we learn how to break free from its stronghold and tend to it as God has been doing all of these years.”
Mirette offers wisdom and encouragement as one who’s ‘been there’ and made it to the other side, with reflections and ‘instructions’ at the end of each chapter to guide you through your own journey toward hope and purpose.
Mirette also has her own podcast—called MAMI—that speaks to the modern Orthodox mama, on which Mirette and her co-host try to work through a lot of the common struggles of motherhood in faith. And a blog (www.mamamd.blog) where she shares her thoughts on faith and parenting.
In Mirette’s own words, “Motherhood comes with seemingly unbearable struggles. But still, God allows flowers to blossom from their wreckage. We just need to find their garden…”
‘Mama, I See You: Finding Glimmers of Hope in the Trenches of Motherhood’, published by Resource Publications, is now available globally.
Article supplied with thanks to Annette Spurr.
About the Author: Annette is a writer and co-founder of Blue Box Media, along with her husband, Phil. They live in Brisbane with their two sons, Tyson & Jack.
Feature image: Photo by Guille Pozzi on Unsplash