Day 55

 

Mother's Day

 

Give her the reward that she has earned and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

 

Proverbs 31:31

 

For some men the only redeeming quality they seem to have ever had is their ability to pick a good wife. I am always amazed when some sorry character manages to convince some sainted woman to marry him. I was 33 years old before I ever got married, and I had many a bachelor friend who married above his market value. It used to frustrate me to no end when a nice Christian girl gave me the "I love you like a brother" speech, and then she would marry some goofball a year later. (Of course, some did way better than me.)

I had friends who were worried that I would never get married. A standard gift for me at Christmas time or for birthdays was cologne.  People seemed to think I needed all the help I could get. If smelling good was the key to winning a girl's heart, I could have had a harem. Why at any time I could have smelled like a brute, a canoe, a pair of chaps or a karate expert. I could have smelled like old spice, English leather. I could have smelled like Halston, Chanel or even Zorro. I had colognes, aftershaves, deodorants, musk and soaps on ropes. At one time I had over 30 bottles of cologne. To my knowledge none of it did me any good because all the soap on a rope never helped me lasso a wife.

I don't know what made my wife say "yes" when I proposed. She is normally very intelligent, a graduate of Rice University, the "Harvard of the South." I am grateful for her momentary lapse in judgment. She is a good wife, a good mother and a good person.

Years ago my son, Ethan and I brought her some flowers for Mother's Day. It was hardly a suitable reward for that she had done for us but if we had got her chocolates we would have been the ones to eat them. Let me tell you what she did with her flowers.

First she took a couple of flowers out of her arrangement  and put them in a little vase that was filled with water that had food coloring added to it. She did this science experiment for Ethan so that he could see the flowers change color and learn how plants grow.

Most of the rest of the flowers were gone by the end of Mother's Day. They were given to children at the church to give to their mothers. The flowers she had earned she freely gave as a gift.

After she had given them away she asked me if I minded. I didn't, of course. I thought what a great illustration of why we have Mother's Day. It is because our mothers give, often sacrificially. They put their joy second to that of their families.

One of the great things about my wonderful wife Joanne is that she didn't marry me because of my cologne. She is allergic to the stuff. It is a real ego boost to know that she didn't fall for the greatest cologne collection east of the Pecos; she fell for me.

 

Upon Further Review:

 

Read Proverbs 31:10-31

 

• Is it easy to find a good wife?
• What does a good wife do for her husband?
• What does a good wife do for others?