Post by Stacey on Aug 31, 2005 18:17:21 GMT -8
What a wonderful expanse of advice and knowledge...thank you all for your replies.
I have just recently learned the importance of being a submissive wife, and the benefits it has afforded my entire family can never be explained in words. To give a short background, I was married before, to an abusive, perverted man who beat and humiliated me because I would not allow him to bring other women into our bedroom. He would even beat me in front of his mother who would simply say, "He says he's sorry doesn't he?" So, needless to say, I came into this marriage very cold and very emotionally unresponsive. It was hard, but after 5 years of marriage to my husband, I am attempting to transform myself into the woman of Proverbs 31, a wife that my husband can trust and find comfort in. We are VERY close, to the point of being best friends, and in my studying of all this, which is still very new, he has not forbidden it nor has he asked me not to talk with him about it. Quite the contrary, on that he listens intently as I tell him what I'm learning, and how that weaves into our own personal beliefs. He just hasn't grasped it for himself yet, but I will continue to pray.
About 2 years ago, we were very involved in our Christian church, even leading the music. We were there for every service, and anything else that went on within the church family itself. We had moved our membership there, but with the understanding that we were not letting go of our "non-denominational" boundaries of not being hooked into man-made doctrine. We gleaned from the Scriptures and asked the L-rd for wisdom to show us how His truth differed from manmade doctrine. There were things within the church that we just didn't see as being "right" somehow, so...
But then things started happening that made us leave the church and we haven't been back since. They allowed the youth pastor, who was living with a woman he wasn't married to and whom he had 3 children with, to retain his position even when he refused to get married. Then the assistant pastor got into legal trouble because of his relationship with a 14 year old girl in the church (he was 36) There were other things like that going on at the time, and we just couldn't bring ourselves to stay. We never went back, because it seems like every church around us is just open for a precious few things, including money. And I'm not talking about tithing, but asking for money to make their church bigger and brighter. You could walk in and be told how many things your kids could do, all the things the members got together to do (all of this being totally worldly) and very rarely did they mention God, unless they were telling you of their doctrine, and that, only if you asked.
And that brings me full circle to the place where I found this, and found the distinct unity that makes me believe there has to be something there, something that's very real! Of all the things that my husband and I have been searching for, this, more than anything else I've seen, encompasses them all, including the fact that it's a faith that is lived out day to day and not just one day of the week. I don't WANT to walk away with a "happy thought sermon" and a "have a good week"! I want the real thing, the truth, and nothing but the truth.
I so appreciate the links that I've been given since I've joined. I'm certainly using them, and looking forward to even more!
Thanks so much.
Shalom~
Stacey
I have just recently learned the importance of being a submissive wife, and the benefits it has afforded my entire family can never be explained in words. To give a short background, I was married before, to an abusive, perverted man who beat and humiliated me because I would not allow him to bring other women into our bedroom. He would even beat me in front of his mother who would simply say, "He says he's sorry doesn't he?" So, needless to say, I came into this marriage very cold and very emotionally unresponsive. It was hard, but after 5 years of marriage to my husband, I am attempting to transform myself into the woman of Proverbs 31, a wife that my husband can trust and find comfort in. We are VERY close, to the point of being best friends, and in my studying of all this, which is still very new, he has not forbidden it nor has he asked me not to talk with him about it. Quite the contrary, on that he listens intently as I tell him what I'm learning, and how that weaves into our own personal beliefs. He just hasn't grasped it for himself yet, but I will continue to pray.
About 2 years ago, we were very involved in our Christian church, even leading the music. We were there for every service, and anything else that went on within the church family itself. We had moved our membership there, but with the understanding that we were not letting go of our "non-denominational" boundaries of not being hooked into man-made doctrine. We gleaned from the Scriptures and asked the L-rd for wisdom to show us how His truth differed from manmade doctrine. There were things within the church that we just didn't see as being "right" somehow, so...
But then things started happening that made us leave the church and we haven't been back since. They allowed the youth pastor, who was living with a woman he wasn't married to and whom he had 3 children with, to retain his position even when he refused to get married. Then the assistant pastor got into legal trouble because of his relationship with a 14 year old girl in the church (he was 36) There were other things like that going on at the time, and we just couldn't bring ourselves to stay. We never went back, because it seems like every church around us is just open for a precious few things, including money. And I'm not talking about tithing, but asking for money to make their church bigger and brighter. You could walk in and be told how many things your kids could do, all the things the members got together to do (all of this being totally worldly) and very rarely did they mention God, unless they were telling you of their doctrine, and that, only if you asked.
And that brings me full circle to the place where I found this, and found the distinct unity that makes me believe there has to be something there, something that's very real! Of all the things that my husband and I have been searching for, this, more than anything else I've seen, encompasses them all, including the fact that it's a faith that is lived out day to day and not just one day of the week. I don't WANT to walk away with a "happy thought sermon" and a "have a good week"! I want the real thing, the truth, and nothing but the truth.
I so appreciate the links that I've been given since I've joined. I'm certainly using them, and looking forward to even more!
Thanks so much.
Shalom~
Stacey