Last week I was accused of something I have never, ever been accused of before.  I was charged with encouraging feminist thinking.

Um, what?

Normally, my smear campaign and hate mail revolve around the fact that I hold a strong biblical view of women and marriage. (Ladies don’t like being told that it’s not all about them.)

So, me encouraging a feminist spirit? It still makes me chuckle!

And so, to give more ammunition to my cute little gremlins who take issue with my traditional perspective of females, as well as to poke fun at the fact that someone actually tried to stick the feminist label on me, I’ll be reposting a series I did last year, A Wife of Purpose.  Hey, I’m all about ticking pretty much everyone off.

It’s not an exhaustive study, and I only touch briefly on many of the topics.  It’s basically to give an overview on what it means to be a wife of purpose, according to the Bible.

Besides, in just the past few months we’ve had numerous people comment admirably on our marriage.  I am thankful, but most do not realize what goes into having a truly blessed marriage.  I said it then and I’ll say it again, most do not want to do what it takes to have a wonderful marriage. I know there’s plenty of times that I don’t.  It’s hard.

Doing this study reminds me how much I fail regularly, but also gives me a renewed gratefulness for how far we’ve come.

Here’s Day 1, identify stones.

I remember that as I was planning to marry, I thought I was aware of what was ahead.  Not specifically of course, but generally speaking I thought I had an idea of what marriage would be like.

It was similar to this romantic concept of love:
You find a soul mate to experience life’s treasures and pitfalls with, create a family, and grow old together.

But someone described marriage this way:
Marriage is the continuous process of getting used to things you never expected.

Stones that weigh us down

Let’s imagine some circumstances or possibilities of married life. Whenever we incorrectly respond to our husband due to not practicing a biblical concept of love, imagine that becoming a stone that we carry.  These stones eventually weigh us down and become rocks of bitterness or resentment in our heart.

• You are busy and stressed, and you resent that he doesn’t help with anything or seem concerned.
• You are emotionally and physically exhausted, he’s neglected to be attentive and affectionate for several days, and you’re annoyed that he now desires to be sexually intimate.
• You have reason and justification for your lack of smiles and joyful spirit.
• Money is tight, but he makes what you consider to be an unnecessary purchase
• He is failing miserably in an area, and you speak critically to him or of him.
• He is 2 hours late, and forgets to call.  You greet him at the door with your problems and complaints.
• There is much around the home that needs to be done, and he doesn’t have the time or perhaps the interest to take care of them.  Instead of finding a way to accomplish them, you constantly “remind” him to no avail.
• You openly question a choice he made that you consider unwise.

I’m sure you can think of some more stones. Or maybe you just don’t recognize some things you do as being a stone, justifying them because you think they’re necessary or just part of your personality.

I mentioned that there is a biblical view of love. In the next part, we’ll talk about what that is. Look for it tomorrow morning!