One

"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall become one flesh." Genesis 2:24

Good morning, dear friends,

(Do not be alarmed in reading the verse for today!  I am SO not going there.)

My kids are just normal kids.  Like all normal kids, sometimes they try to get away with stuff they shouldn't.  One of the oldest techniques in the book, which I believe my kids think they invented, is trying to get either parent aside and agree to something that they know the other parent does not want them to do.  Play video games. Watch TV. Drink an entire glass of chocolate milk five minutes before dinner.

To their credit, sometimes it works, which is why I guess they keep trying it.  However, there have been times when it has backfired on them.  Horribly.  The reason?

My husband and I are one.

It is uncanny to them (and to me) how so many times my husband and I, when questioned by our kids separately, in different rooms on opposite ends of the house, will respond with almost the exact same words to their requests.  My kids all astonished, ask us, "How did you do that?"  My answer?

"Daddy and I are one."

(Now there are times that my kids among themselves talk about things and tell each other, "Don't forget--Mommy and Daddy are one.")

Touchdown.

I guess it's normal after soon-to-be seventeen years of marriage, my husband and I are in sync about many things.  The amazing part of this, is that my husband and I are VERY different people.  My husband is pretty calm, reserved, and has a great sense of humor.  I don't mind making a fool of myself, being in a group, and can't remember a joke to save my life.  My husband is the glue that holds our family together, and I tend to go flying about in 50 different places at once.

How is it, that God takes two such very different people, and makes us "one flesh?"

My husband and I were talking about it the other day on a walk in our village.  Here are some of our findings:

1.  Honest communication.  From the very beginning of our marriage, my husband insisted
that we would always tell each other exactly what we meant, without any hidden agendas. This was hard for me as a woman, because quite frankly I didn't really know how to communicate directly.  My husband would ask me the question, "Are you hungry?" and I would ask him, "I don't know, what time is it?" I'm very grateful for his insistence that we talk honestly and openly with each other, and mean what we say.

2.  Spending time together.  I know that I am very blessed to have my husband at home during the day.  (Just FYI, just because we are both home at the same time does not mean in the same room. Usually he is in his office while I work around the house, but you get the idea.)  When we are able, we spend time together. He notices when I clean the house, or do the laundry.  I notice when he is working on something difficult and I can pray for him through that difficult task.  When we are together, we are together.

3.  Common goals.  When we talk, many times we talk about the kids!  We talk about attitudes, sins, joys, obstacles, talents, desires.  We share what we see going on in their lives, so that when we are hit with these strange requests, many times we know how to answer because we have already talked through the need before it arises.

4.  Submission.  I am far from perfect in this area, but my desire is to be submitted to God's authority, and then to my husband's in my daily walk.  A two-headed creature is after all a monster, isn't it?  After our coworker preached on wifely submission on Sunday, I asked the kids at the dinner table if they thought that I was submitted to Daddy.  My kids all said yes, and gave their reasons why.  Do you know what one of the reasons was?

"You and Daddy are one!"

WOO HOO!

We do not have a perfect marriage by a long shot, but it is a perfect one for us.  If my children learn nothing else from watching their parents interact, I hope they will remember what a true marriage is: two people who in love and submission, work together for the Lord with common purpose and desire.   I pray for my boys that they will make godly decisions as leaders in their homes.  I pray my daughter will learn that wifely submission is such a blessing and not a curse.

In what ways are you "one" in your family?  Feel free to comment below, or on Facebook!