In Praise of My Wife…

Mother’s Day is right around the corner, and while the holiday is man-made, the regular celebration of mothers is a good and right gift of God. Mothers are a gift from God.

• The Bible speaks incredibly highly of Mothers.

• Proverbs 31:31: “Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.”

-So, on this Mother's Day, I want to praise my wife, the mother of our children.

-She loves Jesus. Her soul is alive to the Lord because of His glorious grace in her life. She has the hope of heaven in her heart and her life.

-She prays. I’ve seen her journals. I watch her. She prays for our family.

-She teaches the Bible. She teaches the Bible to our children, and to many other children..

-She is strong. She’s raising our children, managing our home, running a homeschool, and sometimes blows off the yard.

-She is kind. She’s always ready with a smile, speaks lovingly, and is tender.

-She is patient. Raising children is not for the faint of heart. It requires patience by the truckloads. And she’s got it.

-She gets angry. Any good person gets angry. She gets angry when wrong and bad things happen. She’s vigilant over her children. She guards them. She’s a momma bear at heart.

She is a teacher. She is the principal of Francis Learning Academy. She is also the pre-school, first, and fourth grade teachers. Our children do exceptionally well academically because of her skills.

-She is consistent. She’s not perfect, but she keeps her hand to the plow.

-She is a nurse. She can bandage a boo-boo, and kiss an injury back to health with the best of them.

-She nurtures our children. Nurture, while not unique to mothers, is something God has given especially to mothers. And she does it well.

-She is a great story-reader. Almost every night, our kids know the TV goes off and mom is going to read a story. They are often eager to crawl on the couch and settle in with their popcorn to listen while she reads books to them.

-She is a cook. She feeds our family, and man can she bake! She’s pretty famous around our house for her peanut butter pound cake and carrot cake!

-She likes her Bacon-Egg-and-Cheese on Everything bread. Emphasis on the bacon. Everything else can go…

-She is a taxi-driver. Kids come with lots of needs and errands. And when she needs to, she loads them into the family van and off they go.

-She loves chocolates and sweets. Who doesn't?

-She is a housekeeper. Laundry, dishes, dusting, bathrooms, vacuuming, mopping, meal-planning, and more. She keeps our house running and makes it a home.

-She is a seamstress. She can cross-stitch, crochet, sew clothes, and make quilts. She can probably fix a button or loose thread too…

-She is a lover of house-plants. We have most of them. I mean it. We have all the plants.

-She buys me coffee. Enough said…

-She is lots of fun. She is enjoyable to be around, pleasant in almost every regard. We genuinely love being together and doing things together.

-She loves the North Carolina State Fair…and so do I! It's one of our favorite dates every year.

-She is my best-friend. We have shared over half our lives together and she is my closest earthly friend.

-She is beautiful. Have you even seen her!

-She is my confidant. She listens to my secrets, my struggles, and my heartaches.

-She is my lover. She is the one whom my soul loves. She is my lily among the thorns.

-She is a wonderful Mother.

Proverbs 18:22 - “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.”

• I have found a good thing. Tera, you are evidence of God’s favor in my life.
  

• As Chris Stapleton says, ”You are the joy of my life.”

I love you. Happy Mother's Day.

And Happy Mother's Day to all Mothers!