A wonderful wife and mother

As part of our church service yesterday (Mother's Day), we had a testimony time for people to share thoughts about their mothers. About an hour after the sharing started, Pastor Vince stood up to say he thought God provided a wonderful sermon, and then he closed the service in prayer.

Many touching, challenging, encouraging things were shared, and the sanctuary was getting pretty dusty on several occasions, and when I tried to share, my allergies really started acting up (if you don't get my code, I'm admitting to more than a few tears).

Some of my thoughts - I tried to share these, but I'm not sure how well it came across:

My wife and my mother both have a handle on something that we are told is essential in the life of a disciple, and I don't think I'll ever get close to them on this: Death to self.

My wife dies to her self every day as she cares for our 4 little girls (and me) in a way that I will never be able to approximate. Compared to her, I feel like the most selfish man in the world. As I struggled to express this in church, Damaris (a friend sitting a few rows up) said, "it's a woman thing." And she is sooo right. The most selfless man in the world will never compare to the average mother in this area.

Watching my wife daily give of herself for our girls amazes me. It also shames me to realize how little I recognized this in my own mother and her care for me and my 3 brothers. God has blessed me immensely with the women in my life, and I am so grateful.