When submitting is not a bad thing...

I just finished reading Wister's "The Virginian" for the second time.  The first time I read it, I was convinced that it was a male chauvinist book.  This time? I found it a beautiful portrayal of some key differences between men and women, all done tastefully and respectfully.

One part in particular stands out to me, in which someone is counseling the hero's lady love about happiness in marriage:

Once, I thought love must surely be enough. And I thought if I could make you love me, you could learn me to be less--less-more your kind (he is from the south and she from New England).  And I think I could give you a pretty good sort of love.  But that don't help the little mean pesky things of day by day that make roughness or smoothness for folks tied together so awful close.  Mrs. Taylor hyeh ("here"...a mutual friend of their's)--she don't know anything better than Taylor does.  She don't want anything he can't give her.--pg 196, end of chap. 27

 How many times to we as wives continually seek for that "green grass" on the other side of the fence? It reminded me of the section in Ephesians 5 about husbands and wives:

 22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

 24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

 25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

 28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

 29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

 30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

 31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

 32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

 33 Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

 We submit ourselves to the Lord because we love and trust Him.  True, He is perfect, but I know so many men that nourish and cherish their wives the best they know how...and their wives just don't think it is enough.  Men show their nourishing and cherishing in different ways, and when we married them, we as women felt like it was good enough to pledge ourselves to them for time and all eternity at that time.  What has really changed?  Has the husband really gotten that much worse, or have we as women become that much more demanding?

When the honeymoon is over sometimes we start to feel that we need to fix what isn't necessarily broken!

I see men work day in and day out and come home to: "well, that just isn't enough!" time and time and time again.  I know it goes both ways!  I know there are men who also feel that all their loving wives are doing isn't enough and let them know it!

I feel it is so important in marriage to be content with the imperfections in our spouses...I am sure they are aware of enough to work on without their soulmate, their pledged friend and companion, pointing out where they could be better!

Submitting.  Contentment.  Powerful words that will look different for everyone, but eternal principles that are worth considering how to apply in our own unique ways.