This day is dreadful in so many ways, how in the world does a husband show his appreciation for the mother of his children, in a way that truly reflects how grateful he his. I have come to the conclusion that this is impossible. Sure I could buy her flowers (and I have), I could take her out to eat (I’m actually doing the cooking), or I could always just buy her something really great. But what could the mother of four children possibly want that she doesn’t already have; another child. That’s right, what this amazing woman wants more than anything else in the world is another child, and God is giving us two. Which is why I am not buying her something really great. Well, that and the fact that we got a fortune cookie that said we shouldn’t overspend at the moment, frugality is important. Yes, it actually said that, and this happened before we found out she was pregnant. The second child is coming by way of adoption, which will bring the grand total to 6 children. Be fruitful and multiply-that’s what I’m talking about. I love these crazy kids and so does she. But for all the joy and wonder that children bring into our lives there can sometimes be a cost far greater than the monetary value others might place on having multiple children.

The truth is when we’re not being consumed by God we are being consumed by life. Sometimes it can be painful to make the sacrifices we must in order to stay in sweet fellowship with the Lord. However, it is far more painful if we don’t. The demands that our wives have on them is sometimes unbearable, and I sit in amazement as I watch my wife performing the world’s greatest balancing act: Work, chores, children, husband, ministry, family, and friends. We all have our needs and somehow she is meeting them all; and doing it all while she is prego. If you ask her though, she is doing none of them well…phooey. She does the best she can, and that is always well enough. In fact, sometimes I think she has an invisible plane parked out back; she truly is a wonder. Yet in all the Chaos, sometimes it’s her needs that get overlooked and this is to my shame. Lori, has always had a relationship with Christ that I envied. She would get up early kneel beside the bed and pray, or wait until very late at night after all the kids were tucked neatly into their beds and kneel beside her chair with her bible in hand and Gods word in her heart. Yes dear, I was watching. Lately, however she doesn’t seem to have that same energy she had back then and with all the goings on in the Denton home things don’t appear to be letting up anytime soon. Having even confessed that as of lately things have been hard for her. Her days have been dry and the land parched. This is no longer a week of days but a season of them. Therefore I pray, I go to war for her. Yes me and God have gone round and round about this matter and still the season goes on. At first I was a little perturbed, that is until He spoke. Yes, he spoke to me concerning my wife and I listened. As a result I decided to let God do God things and for me to do man things. Oh, you wanna know what he said? Well, in my pleading God revealed to me that he was creating in her an even greater thirst, but to do it he had to take away the little to give her a lot.

Here is the most amazing thing about my wife, she always knows where to find the water. This isn’t our first rodeo, I have witnessed all this in the past, and each time I have watched as she pulled herself up by her flip flops and (as we used to say in the service) “drove on”. Desperately seeking the living waters that Jesus promised for all those who would ask. If we were honest, I think we would all say we have experienced these seasons before. The tenacity in which she searches for this treasure is absurd, and I am left once again in her dust. She is running as if somehow there were a crown at stake. She truly is my helper, my love, and my life. She is for sure a remarkable woman, wife, and mother. We love you Lori, Happy Mother’s Day.

This day is madness; madness because we have narrowed down the celebration of these wonder women in our lives to a single day. In fact you could say it’s almost criminal.