In Honor of My Wife

Stacy, my wife of almost twenty years, is celebrating a birthday this Tuesday, December 18, 2007. That's her in the middle—to my right. Yeah, I know... she looks like one of the kids. I hear that a lot. But let's just say that after this birthday she is getting precariously close to the BIG 4-0. How can she stay so young looking... with all those kids? The only logical conclusion is that I'm a marital fountain of youth. But you'll have to ask her to confirm that (but please just take my word for it).

For about twenty years now, people have been asking me, “Does your wife work?” I’ve come to despise that question because my wife—like most women I know—is a tenaciously hard worker. What I think people are really asking is: “Does your wife have a position/career besides just wife and mother?” In other words, “Is your wife successful?”

I’m certainly not knocking women who work outside the home here. My hat is off—especially to the single parent. I’m just tired of women being considered less than successful if they choose to major in motherhood.

Once I was at some kind of highfalutin thing I was asked to speak at. I say highfalutin because I remember wearing a suit and tie (not my normal ministry attire). I was having a very enjoyable conversation with an older, sophisticatedly dressed woman sitting next to me—until she raised one eye brow, lifted her nose up, looked down through her bifocals, and asked, “Does your wife work?”

Something happened inside me. I looked her right in they eyes, smiled, and said, “My wife landed an incredible position. She’s the Executive Director of Domestic Affairs of Allison, INC.”

Her eyebrows went up as she nodded her approval and she actually said, “Impressive.”

If success really is being and doing what God created you to be and do—nothing more—and nothing less, then my wife is a WILD success. So I'd just like to honor her here in this blog... before you all... because she is the most wildly successful woman I've ever met. And that makes me and our kids the most blessed people in the world.

For those of you who are so inclined to honor her as well by dropping her a brief line or two to celebrate her and wish her a happy birthday, you can email her at stacy@cadreministries.com