Left unsaid

Some things are better left unsaid: "Is that the only shirt you had?" "Are you pregnant?" and my personal favorite from Father of the Bride, "He's just like you, Dad, except he's a genius."

But there are tons of things better off said. And on this Mother's Day I'd like to say a couple of them to and about my wife:

"When I was nearly lost, maybe forever, God used your love to turn my heart to his."

"Without your character I'd be way too willing to settle for good enough and gray."

"Thanks for balancing our checkbook for 20 years without 'pleases' or 'thank-yous.' Without you we'd have even less money." :0

"Thanks for couponing, shopping deals and buying off brands that I have learned to like."

"Thanks for your willingness to hear and respond to the voice of Jesus calling you to die. The life you now live in the flesh glorifies God. You look more and more like Jesus everyday."

"Thanks for carrying our children inside you while I sat around and made stupid and unfunny comments about baby weight. You did everything in bearing our children. All I did was run to White Castle for sliders (true story)."

"Thanks-you for enduring the body changes, stretch marks, ill-fitting clothes, stupid remarks and especially the pain of childbirth. You graciously and miraculously made it look pretty easy. I'm astounded"

"Thanks for loving, nurturing and understanding the baby years. If it were up to me the children would have received one diaper change per day and I would have constantly done what was needed to stop the crying. You made crying babies into little men through appropriate love, firm guidance and regular diaper changes."

"Thanks for teaching our children, well, everything. They know about this world God made because of you. They tie their shoes because of you. They learned to count because of you. They learned the alphabet because of you. You literally taught each one of them to read and write and rhyme and think. You have passed more than life onto our children. You have given them legacy."

"Thank-you for helping our children to know God. We both do some things, but you do many if not most of them yourself. Daily Bible reading with them, understanding, explanation and most importantly, constant modeling. They have seen Christ in you and been changed because of Him in you."

"Thank-you for your sensitive and emotional heart. Without you I would not understand a grieving heart, the deep places of the human soul or the extent of the glorious victory that Christ achieved for each sinner at the cross. I would not understand the depths of my own heart, my own feelings and my own grief if I didn't learn from you. Though I do not usually display it well, my emotional heart has been dug-out more fully and is more able to contain joy because you showed me how deep it really is."

"Thanks-you for sharing your life--your very soul with me. I always desire that you FEEL that it is safe to trust, and yet sometimes when you trust I hurt you."

So on this Mother's Day, 2011, these are just a few of the things about you that I am thankful for. In every corner of my heart there is another dark place that God has used you to help me discover and surrender to Him. I love you. More.