Passionate About My Role As Wife

A few evenings ago, my husband and I were watching some talent show on TV. One comment that you often heard the contestants make as they were interviewed was how passionate they are about their music and how wonderful it is to be able to be doing something that they love and are passionate about. As I listened to these comments, I began to wonder, "What am I passionate about? I wish I could truly spend my time, energy, and even make money, doing something I am passionate about." As an empty nest mom, often it seems like we are teenagers again, trying to figure out what we really want to do with the rest of our lives. The part of our lives that we poured so much of our passion, time, and energy into is now over and it is so easy to feel lost and like we are floundering around trying to find our niche. We do a lot of things trying to fill our time and be useful, but as hard as we try we don't always feel fulfilled and passionate about our obligations. As I was considering these young peoples comments, yearning and praying for a passion of my own, I was reminded that the most important role that I have right now is that of being a wife. My passion should be directed at being the best wife that I can possibly be to my husband. Instead of searching elsewhere for fulfillment, and enjoyment, become consumed with the man in your life. Read, study, pray, about how to be the best wife you can be to him, and put these things into practice. Pray earnestly for him and for your relationship with him and how to personally make it better. Become excited and consumed with this adventure of being the best wife you can be.

Marriage Encounter

This past weekend my husband and I attended a Marriage Encounter weekend. I've been wanting to go to one of these for at least 20 years. Finally, my husband, unenthusiastically, agreed to go. We both felt like we benefited from it immensely and wished we had gone sooner. It feels like a fresh start. I felt like so many prayers were answered just from us taking this time out to spend together and picking up some tools to better communicate. So, no matter how long you've been married, don't quit trying to make your relationship grow, especially if you're in a place where you've given up hope. God has shown us over and over never to lose hope.
P.S. If you've never heard of Marriage Encounter, check it out at www.agme.org

Submit or Obey (cont.)

Thank you ladies for some really good, thought provoking comments on this topic. Everyone please go to the comment section of the previous post on this subject (Submit or Obey our Husbands? April 29) and read these comments.

My thoughts: I believe they both require obedience, but submitting involves placing ourselves in that position of surrendering to our husbands authority. Where a child is born under our authority and must obey us, as wives we must surrender to the authority of our husbands. Our husbands should not have to demand our submission, it should come from a heart of love and wanting to please him and God.
I'll be honest, it took me a really long time to learn this. But Gods way is always best. There was a time that I wanted to be the boss in our home. My husband has not always served God and so I didn't trust his decisions, especially when it came to the children (actually, even if He was serving God, I don't know if I would have been any more trusting or submissive). They always came to me for questions and permission to do things. I pretty much did what I wanted most of the time. The more I learned about submission, I realized how wrong I was. I also realized I was carrying a load of responsibility that God never intended for me to carry. Women feel like they are placing themselves in bondage by submitting to their husbands, but the opposite is true. I could not believe how freeing it was to give the responsibility that I had been carrying to my husband where it belonged and place myself rightfully under his leadership. I remember the first time I sent my child to their father to ask permission for something (although I was really wanting to answer it myself and I was dreading his answer). It was something I really felt he should decide. When he gave his answer I was shocked! It was exactly what I would have wanted. It seems trusting and submitting to God and trusting and submitting to our husbands go hand in hand. When he realizes the whole family is his responsibility and under his authority, I believe he will take his position under God more seriously.

Submit or Obey Our Husbands?

What's the difference? I heard a preacher say on the radio that the Bible never says for wives to obey their husbands. It says children obey your parents, slaves obey your masters, but it says wives submit to your husbands. Just thought I would throw this out there in case anyone wanted to join my son-in-law and my conversation on what the difference is. I know this is a very loaded question requiring a detailed answer, but thought it would be interesting to hear some others thoughts.