The Purpose

"What is Your Purpose?" Most of us have heard or learned at some point (at least if you were in church during the "purpose driven life" phenom you should) that our pupose is to Glorify God. Personally I spent many years trying to take this concept and figure out what it looks like from day to day. While the first chapter does not give us the specifics how what this looks like, it does go one layer deeper to tell us what this looks like for Biblical women.

We are privilaged to display the Glory of God through biblical submission. Yes that is for married women the submission of us to our husbands which in John Piper's definition is "the divine calling of a wife to honor and affirm her husband's leadership and help carry it through according to her gifts."
Note: Singleness is also addressed as a different picture of Christ's relationship to us through submission to Christ. I do not go into specific detail about this in this post but if you would like more information on this picture, I will be happy to give it to you.

As my generation has gotten married and had children or are at least preparing to do so, this concept of submission has gotten twisted, turned, and most of us view or viewed submission as a negative. It is something to be squashed, stiffled and surely not relevant to our time. For the world views this to be true, as if submission takes something from you and makes you inferior. We were taught to question authority, be ourselves, help no one, only help yourself, and many watched unhealthy marriages unfold and dissolve right before our eyes. It's no wonder we get married and struggle with submission. All of these are reasons on why we struggle but unfortunatly does not excuse us from the command.

One has to approach submission in light of truth. Truth is how submission looks in every marriage is a little different. There is no "one plan fits all approach". (I have to say that is completely freeing) John Piper's definition says that submission is carried out "according to her gifts". That means that I can't tell you the specifics in HOW to respect and affirm your husband and his leadership in your home. We are commanded to seek God in this and work out what this looks like in our homes to fulfill our "Purpose".

I can however affirm the importance of it and that you are equipped to do so. It will change your life and your home. It does not stiffle, it frees you. We have the power to not only turn the generation in which we live but to train the next generation in true Biblical Womanhood and submission.

I have come to understand that I can not call myself a follower of Christ and claim that I submit to His authority-- but NOT submit to His plan of putting a leader in my home and NOT submit to my husband. The two are directly related and not exclusive of one another. You can't reap the benefits of one and ignore the other. God doesn't do ala carte. It's full course or nothing. It changed my life when I "got this". I still struggle at times and fall. My husband has a lot of patience. I am so grateful for that but even more grateful that so does my King. It's all a process and the important thing is that you remember truth and seek it.

So my closing thought is how are you doing with your purpose? Have you even thought about submission as your purpose? Are you sitting with one foot in God's throne room and the other squashing your husband? Have you determined your gifts and how you are supposed to use them to respect, honor, and affirm your husband's leadership in your home? If you're on the path of Biblical Submission, have you considered gently mentoring and teaching those around you the model?


Kristin Carlton

1st "My Thoughts" installment of the series "The Voices of True Womanhood" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and friends. This is chapter one. See Biblical Womanhood post to see how this whole posting got started.

Biblical Womanhood

God is taking me on journey. One I am not sure where to exactly start and one I am certain I do not know where it will end. It all started with my husband confronting me with the ugly truth of my disrespect. I never knew I was doing this or at least realized the degree in which it was hurting him. My not realizing my ugliness did not excuse it and I was brought to my knees. I knew the theory of respect, I have preached the theory for goodness sakes, but I had no idea of the application. God led me to http://www.reviveourhearts.com/, a ministry of Life Action and led by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. I was completely capitivated by the idea of getting back to what God intended by embracing truths of Womanhood. During this time of learning about Biblical Womanhood I realized that Christian Women just don’t get it. I didn’t and have caught only a glimpse. I have lots of room to grow and I am taking the “one fire at a time” approach. Overall there is a settling for mediocrity. We trample our husbands, throw God’s truth back in His face, we cause others to stumble and all the while proclaim we are Christians. We are hurting, we don't know it and the consequences are devestating. I have been challenged by God to speak truth. This ministry is giving us a challenge of blogging about this topic. Stay tuned for the journey. . . . .

Carrie the Great

Well, we said good-bye for a season to my sister in law Carrie. She was responsible for pushing her brother over the edge to ask me on a date so to her, I am eternally grateful. She has lived here for the past 5ish years after a brief stint in Kansas City and Salina. Somehow she has known when I needed out of the house, needed a meal cooked, needed my children taken off my hands. She kept me sane many of times when I really wasn't sure that was a possibility. She's taught me more about life, love, and what servanthood really entails than many people I have known in my life. She's got a big heart and I will miss that. I will miss the random trips to the ER (see previous post), the sarcasm, the thought that all I have to do is call and she'd be there to rescue me or my daughter from me. Thank you Carrie for the last 5 years of memories!!!!!!!!
I look forward now to the road trips, the holidays, and the conversations on Facebook and watching what great work God is going to continue to do in her life. . . . . . .

The Horse

So, mornings are hard. For a variety of reasons most of which are familar to you...the physical act of getting out of bed, convincing your children that it is time to get out of bed, convincing your husband to get out of bed, remembering the myriad of items that must be taken, etc etc. Most that know me, know that I work outside of the home so my kiddos go to preschool. This simple fact of getting them ready, out the door and delievered is sometimes frustrating, many times excruciating as the knowledge that you are leaving them for the day hits. Now, God has given me a spirit of contentment in my job and I actually like it, but that doesn't turn the mommy feelings off. Some mornings are better than others, but on this particular morning I was having a particularly rough time leaving both Laura and Lane. I turned the corner and I saw the 2 year old room's most recent art project. A horse, simple I know but you would have to see it-it was made out a child's handprint turned upside down. I burst out in laughter. God gave me this simple moment of grace. I thought to myself, now I would have NEVER thought to turn a handprint into a horse. A turkey maybe, but never a horse.
In this season of life, my children are learning so much and I get a small sliver of thier day. It has come to my attention that this is the most important sliver of thier day. From me they learn character, right, wrong, who God is, how to pray, brush their hair, teeth, dress, make cookies, and generally about life. Just because I am away from them x hours a day does not dismiss this responsibility.
So I am OK with not knowing how to make a horse out of a handprint and really OK that they get that creativity from somewhere as long as I don't fail at teaching them life.

Are you kiddin' me? An Ode to the ER

So, enter stage left, sister in law/friend Carrie. There are some people who God puts in your life to stretch you beyond what you think is possible. She is one of those people who blesses me like that. Perhaps one of the most stretching moments are in a medical facility. I am pretty sure that Tuesday only marked the 2nd time I have volunteered for this adventure but it topped them all. The culprit was a swollen knee in which I kind of gave the warning of some serious stuff that can come of that and she got direct orders from her mother (my mother in law) to go directly to the ER. So, has anyone been in an ER lately? Definately not as fun as the TV show. We settle down in the waiting room. Her simply with her purse and I armed with work and two books. Immediately I notice the crowds of people in the room. Mainly the family reunion taking place next to me. Seriously, it's the tiniest waiting room and we have to have 6-8 people accompany us? Then there was the vending machine. In which some poor soul had missed thier soda so we became the directors of "No, the machine doesn't take dollars-use the change machine" and Yes, the soda is stuck and unless you like Dr. Pepper, you will have to buy two. Somewhere in the span of two hours someone figured this out.
I sent Carrie out of her chair when she said, here feel this on my knee, well I did and poked too hard. I think she thought bad things about me. We then schemed for a few minutes on what could get her faster service. We came up with lots of things but none that either one of us would be willing to do.
Then came the parade of food. As I looked out the window, there was the Dominos pizza guy, shortly after two nurses came trotting throught the waiting room with pizza. Then the tupperware, yes tupperware of strawberries and other random food items. Oh and last but not least the Krispy Kreme donuts brought in by one of the patients. Now if you're that sick do you really need Krispy Kreme donuts?
Finally, her name was called and I accompany her to the exam room, Ok this was not an exam room, it was a closet with eye exam equipment in it. No joke. I guess I should be grateful they called us back but still. And let me just say that I would never have commented on my accomodations. But Carrie? Absolutely did. I did find it entertaining, especially at midnight with a previously injested Dr Pepper. I am pretty sure Carrie found them fasinating as well after her pain pills.
The staff were definately entertained and well, that made it all worth it. Better than that, she was Ok in the end, we made it home and we shared one more experience that I am sure made us closer and provided some good stories at least.