The World's Best Mom

I have often gotten into mock “arguments” with friends over who has the best wife. I imagine I will hear similar protests about this article. After all, every family should be blessed enough to believe they have the best Mom in the world. But hear me out before you decide…
 
My wife, Ana, won the title, “The Best Mom in the World” in a unanimous decision (with my daughter and I voting) for the following reasons:
 
First, she is a Godly woman who has done a wonderful job of teaching our daughter the Bible and its guidance on how we should live our lives. As a result, our Sarah is growing into a beautiful Godly young woman. She knows who she is, where she is going, and why. We can’t express how proud we are of her, and Ana deserves the credit.
 
Second, she has home schooled our daughter her entire life. Of course, all of us home school our children for the first few years of their lives. But eventually most of us hand over the main responsibility for their instruction to others. Even though she was afraid that she didn’t have the temperament and skills to home school, Ana felt that the Lord had called her to this life.
 
Ana has excelled at home schooling. This is not a casual pursuit. She spends as much time each day preparing her lesson plans and materials to teach one child, as school teachers spend preparing to teach a classroom. Somehow she even finds time to be a leader in our home school association and to mentor other moms. Ana teaches Sarah with the patience and grace of a saint. I couldn’t do what she does, but I burst with pride over what she has accomplished with our little girl.
 
She is the ultimate multi-tasker. I know other mothers who do the things I’m about to describe, but this is Mother’s Day. So please allow me to brag on my wonderful wife. In addition to teaching our daughter and being the best role model imaginable for her, she somehow juggled taking Sarah to Christian Youth Theater rehearsals, voice lessons, gymnastics classes and home school activities with maintaining our home, shopping, preparing healthy meals, getting me ready for my many US and international speaking engagements, and helping with my ministry and my business. In short, she’s amazing.
 
Finally, I think the most powerful testament to her effectiveness as a mother is the way our daughter has turned out. Sarah is bright, intelligent, loving and compassionate. Some of her school work (especially math!) doesn’t come easy to her, but she works at it until she gets it. She cares about others. She’s always ready to help those in need, both by giving of her own money, and by volunteering. Younger children look up to her, and older kids admire the way she lives her life.
 
Of course, I have had some influence on Sarah. But Ana spent hours every day home schooling her, pouring love and wisdom into her life. Now that she is in college, Ana continues to help and encourage her to be the best student she can be.
 
Proverbs 31 gives us a beautiful profile of a Godly woman. It says, in part, “Who can find a woman of noble character?...Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her.” So I guess it is OK for me to give her the praise she deserves.
 
The chapter concludes, “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”
 
This passage could have been written about Ana. Not that she’s not charming and beautiful – she is both. But what Sarah and I most value about her are the things that will endure forever – her faith and her dedication to the Lord and to us.