"wives, submit to your husbands, as to the Lord" ... explained

CONFESSION: I was not steadfast in my faith and a devout follower of Jesus Christ on my wedding day.

My husband has been the spiritual leader of our home and has walked me in the direction of salvation and instilled in me an appreciation for the life God has planned for us. Being the least devout on our wedding day did not mean that I took our vows lightly or reluctantly. We promised before God, family and friends to love, comfort and keep one another, forsaking all others, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, 'til death do us part. That's heavy. Serious. A promise for the ages. We made it, we meant it, and there's no going back.

CONFESSION: We were married by both our pastors. James' pastor inserted verses of scripture that I was not familiar with (nor was my mother or apparently some other women in the congregation, as we were all pretty upset by it after the fact). Pastor quoted, "Wives, submit to your own husband, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body." (Eph. 5:22-23) Hold up. Excuse me, but did he say, submit?

Today it was better explained to me that this piece of scripture is perhaps more directed to the husband than to the wife, if you read it along with a few verses that follow.

"Wives, submit to your own husband, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church." Ephesians 5:22-29

The definition provided in today's sermon was that if a husband nurtures his marriage in a Christ-like manor (respects and loves unconditionally, protects physically, emotionally and spiritually, provides for, and is willing to die for his wife), then the wife will return the respect and be willing to follow his lead without hesitation. That makes perfect sense and I'm happy to say that my marriage is a prime example. What a glorious day to be a follower of Jesus Christ!

In summary, "wives, submit to your husbands" does not mean that a man is allowed to smack around his wife and demand that she fix his dinner, etc. That man should be the example and possess the Christ-like traits mentioned above. Only then will he be worthy of being submitted to. No woman should be forced to submit by way of threat or fear. Marriage is born of love and grows through mutual respect. My married friends and family, take your promises seriously and find your way to enjoying the life God has planned for you.

Blessings,
Casey

"be careful" is a threat?

It's a shame that the American Idol judges are out of touch with good Southern hospitality. When did "y'all be careful" turn into a threat? I guess the poor guy having that Deliverance look to him probably didn't help matters ...

"that's not right"

Today, on the would-be 80th birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I explained to my daughter in the best way I knew how what Dr. King meant to the world. As it's a national holiday, she and children across the country were absent from school today. Though we observe this holiday each year, it has probably never received as much attention as it did today. This is the Eve of Change. Our 44th president will be sworn into office tomorrow and he is the first African-American president. The quest for equality has come to fruition.

So how do you explain to a six-year-old what Dr. King did for the culture of America? Well, keep it personal and not too broad. My focus, for now, was on how her dark-skinned best friend would not have been allowed to go to her school if not for the efforts of Dr. King and others like him. And how they would not be able to drink from the same water fountains or eat in the same restaurants. It really hit home for her and she said "that's not right, Mama, that wasn't fair." She seemed to find it as irresponsible and hurtful as it really was. I guess that was a successful talk.

what's this G commercial?

I googled "g commercial" to find an explanation for this unexplained, website-less commercial about "G". Have you seen it? It features athletes like Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali), Derek Jeter and the Walsh/May-Treanor volleyball chicks from the Olympics (though they're hardly recognizable, since their hair's down). A voice-over (Lil Wayne, I've found out) talks about G ... swagger, champion, dynasty, lower-case god ... but he never really tells us what G is.

Anyway, I was happy to find that I wasn't the only one scratching my head. The top result was titled just what I had asked myself, "What's this G commercial???" Turns out Gatorade is trying to re-brand itself. If you're curious, get the scoop here - http://weblogs.newsday.com/entertainment/celebrities_blog/2009/01/whats_this_g_commercial.html



Interested in who those masked dudes are at the end? They're America's Best Dance Crew - Jabbawockeez - and you can see them here ...