The Strong Willed Wife

I will have to say that God surely does have a creative way of getting my attention at times. The title of this book, for instance, being one. I have been told more often than not that I am a strong willed person (imagine that!) so when I came across this book I had to take a second, third, and maybe even a fourth look. I was more than curious as to what the author would have to say... so I read the back cover, decided that it sounded too much like me and walked away from it. But wouldn't you know it, two days later I got a flier in the mail for this very book. I ignored that to. But then my mother called and we were talking about my strong will, a subject that comes up often with her, and as soon as I got off the phone with her I spotted the flier for the book. I felt God gently said to me "So when are you going to get the hint?" I would like to say that I dutifully went out that day and bought the book...but I waited a couple more days, 4 if you must know, to get it. Hmmmm must be the strong will in me that "made" me resist doing what I knew I should do. Anyways, I finally got the book, but of course I put off reading it until last night. Did I mention that I bought the book 3 days ago? Well, I read the first chapter, and lets just say that I was offended. Really! It described me to a capital T! I almost put the book down and went to bed, but I decided to skim through the rest... Fast forward 2 1/2 hours later and I finally put the book down. The point of this book is learning how to use my strong willed personality to honor God and my husband with a little thing called submission. A biblical concept that I am not good at! The author Dr. Debbie Cherry writes that "We are all experts at making excuses for our behavior". And boy did she hit the proverbial nail on the head when she wrote that. I am good at making excuses for why I am the way I am, none of them are good mind you, but I am good at making them. But she also explains what submission is and is not. It is not surrendering my identity, being a quiet " I'll do whatever you tell me to do" wife, not ever expressing my opinion, or giving up my dreams, goals, or needs for my husbands. But submission is the process of putting off my selfish desires and putting on "one flesh" so that my husband and I can do the things that are necessary to reach the ultimate goal, having a God-honoring marriage. Now, if I can just remember the steps of, " How to Relinquish Control" from chapter 15...

God opened my eyes last night and I know that, with the help of my strong will, my husband, and God, I can make the changes to myself I need to make. I realized that I really do want to honor God and my husband, and I can do that without surrendering who I am. Now if I can just teach my daughters before they make the same mistakes!