Marriage

Was asked a question the other night in Fuel Cell? Well, three questions actually...
1) How long have you been married? 20 years, 4 months, and 13 days. (And I only had to figure the days!)
2)What have you had disagreements about? We have had only a handful of disagreements in those years, honestly!! And it was about money.
3)What's the secret to your success, other than God being the center or related answer? I had to think on this one for a bit. This answer is different for everybody! But the most common answer in the group was communication with spouse. (As was mine.)
My church is doing a sermon series on marriage, hence the questions. I know growing up where I grew up that "submit" was a dirty word for a woman. And it still is for some. I know it was omitted from a set of marriage vows on purpose.
My husband and I have a morning Bible study. I really cherish this time with him and miss it when we get up too late for our day. We have grown stronger as a couple as well as Christ-followers. My study has me in I Corinthians 11 today. And guess what?? Paul is talking about submission! But in a way that makes man AND woman equal. Verse 12. For as a woman came from man, so also a man is born of a woman. BUT everything comes from God. (NIV) SO... we may have come from man's side to be near his heart, under his wing, BUT right beside him. NOT under his thumb or his feet. That's another subject. Back to submission. I submit to my husband because I want to because I love him so much. My husband doesn't FORCE me to submit because he loves me so much. We are equals in our marriage and we both treat the other that way. Here's another way to look at it. God and Jesus are equals. (Jesus is God in the flesh.) But Jesus submitted to God the Father to carry out the plan for salvation. In our marriage, we are to be equals; but as the wife, I am to submit to my husband. I do this by choice not by force. And my husband is my number 2 and he knows he is because he knows my number one is God! As I'm his number 2 because God is his number one!!
Trying to live each day like it's my last, DA