I previously posted my heavy heart in response to the pervasive social disease wrought by promoting promiscuity, self-realisation, gay marriage here.  and promised to write Part 2, which outlines some of the ways I am fighting back.

I will love my husband more deeply and serve him more gleefully than ever:

I seek to meet his needs first.

I accept him with no conditions.

I encourage him to pursue God first.

I pray for him.

I do whatever he asks with gladness and  deep love, as far as I am able.

I observe him to know him more deeply, and listen to understand him more fully. 

I will love my children till I am tickled pink!

I will rejoice that I have legs, arms, eyes, ears, words, thoughts, hands with which to serve my family, and will serve them with all my heart.

No job is too low nor too hard for me to do with a glad and willing heart and mighty arms.

I will cheerfully spend a few moments with our son when he is bringing me yet another "present" in a bag from the shelf that I have just cleaned up.  I will celebrate his generosity before we find its right place to keep it safely. 

I will listen avidly when our children are telling me about the snakes they are making, the trolleys they are driving, and the elevators they are riding.

I will say "yes" to our children's pleas for attention and love as much as I humanly can.

I will firmly and gently say "no" again and again and again to any habit, desire, request from our children that will diminish their character and future.

I will pray God's Kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy to rain down on our family and to show His glory in our little home.

I will put away fear of man and put on courage to speak the truth in public (gasp!).

I will become a woman of God's Word, and study all 66 books.

I will seek friendships with women who will challenge me to obey and worship God fully and without reservation.

I will graciously ask others to explain the basis for their comments that fly in the face of Scripture, and become an expert in engaging people in winsome conversation with people from the despised "religious right" (that would be me, ahem!).  I will speak up at liberal Christian bookstores and graciously express distress about their sale of books on "Wizardology" (and so on).

I will give as much money as I can to organizations like National Organization for Marriage.

I will cut my food budget in half so I can support Christian leaders like James Dobson who are trying to be heard in the market place and so I can sell bumper stickers with slogans like "Aborted babies never learn to dance.  Give adoption a chance."  and "Try the Adoption Option".  And "(What about the) The Audacity of Truth?"

I will vote for John McCain and look for opportunities to dialog about it with neighbors and friends who are thinking of abstaining (Feel free to post here if you like).

I am thinking about starting a new blog to engage non-Christians in friendly dialog about controversial issues (but I'm not sure I have the time to do that and do all of the above).

Of course I will not be able to do all these things perfectly, but that is the direction and goal of my heart, and I will not be discouraged when I cannot do them all.

A friend just asked me about "women's roles" according to Scripture, and I thought I'd post part of my answer here.

I think one of the key points in understanding biblical male/female roles is that the Christian position is that we are to die to ourselves, and God asks men and women in marriage to do this differently, and I think in a way that is particularly unnatural, or supernatural for the respective sexes.  For women, giving up control is extremely difficult, and for men, giving up themselves is extremely difficult.  God commands these difficult acts (love/submit) of both the husband and wife, and of all Christians, but specifically for husbands to love and wives to submit and respect.  The purpose of the command of death to self, is always that there might be greater, superior life and intimacy, that will spread life to others, just as a seed can only bring forth exponential life growth by dying.  Marriage is not only intended to bring physcial life to children through sexual union, it is intended to bring abundant spiritual life to those children through the unselfish sacrifices made for them.  These hard commands are given to humans in the context of Jesus Christ giving up all, submitting to injustice with the supreme sacrifice of his life, so that there is no excuse for men and women to do less.  

The big question is the character of God--"Will He ask of me something that is harmful to me?"  and the answer is a resounding "No."  In fact, faith is the willingness to obey when it hurts because of confidence in the goodness of God.  The miracle of marriage is that through dying to self, the father and mother actually live a richer and more vibrant life in addition to giving life and anchorage to their children--this miracle illumines the power in the truth, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."  

When it comes to the role of women in the church, the Bible is also clear that the position of pastor and elder is to be held by men, although it doesn't specifically deny women in those instances.  It also says it is not good for a woman to teach a man, so that is more explicit.  On the other hand, the Bible is full of examples of godly women who held great influence, who prophesied and even led men in battle, although in that case (Deborah), Barak was kind of slapped on the hand for not leading.

 Anyway, the key point here is that God's economy is not human economy.  In our culture, power is the desired value, and that for personal self-realization and personal satisfaction.  In God's economy, the first shall be last and the last shall be first, so leading/positions/titles become irrelevant to one's real worth, and leaders are to be servants for the benefit of those served, to the point of washing the filthy, dung-caked feet of so-called "lessers".  A good question is "What makes you worthwhile?  Is it your accomplishments/position/etc."|?"  If so, then what does that make people who are impaired, poor, etc.?  In God's kingdom, not many noble enter. If our worth is in anything other than our position with God, as His beloved creation, then we are not secure--we can always lose what we have grasped to gain.   There is no peace when people are grasping to keep what they are afraid to lose.

The big question is, "Is God just?"  And of course, the answer is "Yes".  It is clear that He says not to pursue the role of teacher, because they will be held more accountable.  Whatever role or position God puts any person in, He knows exactly how to provide recompense that suits that person exactly, and it is a good thing that He is the Judge, rather than us.

A friend of mine and I are talking two to three times a week to "work" on her marriage.  Well, mine, too.

Yesterday, I jokingly told her that if God would give her a test at Judgment Day that asked her about all her husband's faults, she would ace the test.  After a good laugh, we sobered.  On Judgment Day, being an expert on the faults of our spouse will not help.  The point of comparison is, "Were you like Christ?"  Where I failed?  His mercy wipes out the ugly answer of my life and fills in "My Righteousness.  My holiness.  My sufficiency". 

The tears my spouse has caused me?  The wounds?  All my sorrows He bore on the cross will be gone forever.  He will gently wipe those tears from my eyes.

 And those faults of his gladly filled in during tense moments?  Actually, none of us would ace the test by reciting our pet complaints.  All those faults are the wrong answer.  They aren't there.  They will be once and for all washed under the same precious blood that washes me.