Marriage

What an interesting institution - marriage. God has placed this topic on my heart this week for a lot of different reasons. I believe marriage is a covenant between a man, a woman and God. I also believe that a woman is to be subject to her husband and that a husband should love his wife as Christ loves the church. Oh, I know some women question the "subject to her husband" part. It doesn't mean not equal or lesser in the relationship. It just means hubby is the final decision maker, the leader, the dude in charge etc. Every good organization needs a good leader and I believe God created the man to be that leader. I personally don't have a problem going to my hubby for guidance. Actually it is kind of nice because I don't have to sweat the decision. If it is something major we discuss it for awhile and then make a decision. If it is something minor he will either give me his opinion or just tell me to do whatever works best. I believe because we have these discussions, we tend to make good choices with our children, family, money etc. Yes, he has the final say but we are usually united by the time the discussion is over and the decision is made. For those of you who know me, I am very opinionated and I have a way I think things ought to be. So, it has been a learning experience for me - a growing of my soul and spirit - to listen to his opinion and realize he might be right or have a better way. Marriage isn't for the selfish. For it to work, it is about the other person. How can I, today, please the person I am united to for life? When you have a family that question gets harder because it seems like you spend most of your day pleasing somebody. But, I can see how negligence in the area of pleasing your spouse can have consequences. Some of what we do as a family during the day is in preparation for hubby to come home. A clean house (well, sort of), a nice cool drink, hopefully a little peace and quiet, usually a decent dinner. I don't have all the answers and I know I make mistakes everyday. And I know there are things that I can do better to please my spouse. I am going to be praying this week for guidance in that area. I am going to ask my spouse "What can I do better? Is there something that is being neglected?" It will be a humbling experience for me. But my marriage is worth it. As our pastor has said over the course of the last couple of weeks (our sermons have been on marriage) he has been married to his wife for 25 years "by the grace of God" . . . .