And so begins our life of living apart from one another....

It's bitter sweet to be back in Brisbane as David is now based in Tonga. The kids and I are faring well and enjoying the last few days of their holidays together. I find that I am really loving "family time" and am making the most of my time with my children. I think it's kind of easy to forget how fast time goes and how quickly they grow up.... until they are all grown up and leaving home! One of my motto's in life has always been to live life with no regrets. This has been very true up until now, and I aim to make this truth in my relationships with my kids as well.
I think one of the things that I am enjoying during this time also is the dependence I have to have on God and nobody or nothing else. There has always been the dependence on God throughout my life since surrendering it to God, but I think as a woman, wife and mother there has also been a dependence on my husband. This is something I'm still figuring out with God, as I have always maintained and believed that the position, role, dependence and function of a woman is totally different from a man's - especially in regards to the whole issue of submission! (Now there's a dirty word!!! Hee, hee, hee....) So far I have discovered these truths about the whole submission issue, which lays the foundation for our dependence/independence issues...

A woman/wife must remain totally submitted unto God and to her husband. In fact, I am supposed to submit to my own husband as to the Lord! "How?" I hear you scream! That's the best part where we process this with God and have Him teach us His ways (see Ephesians 5:22). There is a kind of "lordship" that husbands are to have in regards to their wives - but this lordship is to come from deep humility and the servanthood of Christ! This is where we have totally screwed up this beautiful equation, because men want to "lord" their authority over women out of their own flesh and self instead of the place of deep humility, considering others better than themselves (including their wives) just as Christ laid down His life for the church; and women will do everything to fight that wrong lordship because within every woman there is an innate spiritual ability to know that that kind of lordship is wrong! And there lies the struggle and tension of centuries between men and women.
Many people read that one verse (Eph 5:22) and automatically think that the responsibility lies solely with the woman for submission to occur correctly. I believe that the responsibility lies with the man as the leader, to provide the proper atmosphere, condition and platform for submission to automatically flow out from the woman. The greater responsibility lies with the man as "lord" and "master" - just as God the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords didn't wait for humankind to get their act right before He sent His Son to die for the redemption of their sins, so the man/husband must not wait for his woman/wife to submit before He lays His life down for her; but as a true "lord", just like Christ, the man lays down His life and sets the proper foundation for submission and leadership to take place. When this is done correctly by both the husband and the wife, the beautiful equation of lordship and submission can flow and take place as God intended.

The problem with many women today is that they trust themselves more than they trust their husbands or even God! If we were very honest with ourselves, and I know I am definitely speaking for myself here.... we as women trust our own instincts, our own reasoning, our own logic and our own ability more than anybody else's! This issue of trusting ourselves and not trusting God as we should has put us women in dire circumstances, that many of us have ended up blaming our husbands, our pastors, our bosses and everyone else except ourselves for the screw up of our lives. If we would just follow Sarah's pattern, and trust in God with a gentle and quiet spirit, submission would flow and we wouldn't have problems calling our husbands "lord" or "master" because this isn't a mere title we are giving our husbands, but it is a true expression of our hearts. (see 1 Peter 3:5-6) Because our hearts have been seared by the word of God, having the humility and trust that allows us to truly have our lives completely dependent on God and not ourselves. I know that THAT is a heart, position and life that I want! :)

Stay tuned, and stay connected....