Sometimes things happen in my every day life and I think to myself that I need to write it down just for the sake of memory. Other times things happen and I know I have to write it down in order to share it. My challenge is writing it down well enough so it makes sense to you.

So, here’s the deal. I’ve been pondering over a simple exchange between my husband and I for days. I was taught a huge lesson in a matter of seconds and I am wondering if I can capture even a fragment of it here. I think I’ll start by just telling the story.

First I need to say that I am electronically challenged. Cell phones break by just sitting in the palm of my hand. Cameras stop working because I looked through the lens. And GPS systems just love to get me lost. In fact, I have gotten us so lost using the GPS that I am no longer allowed to use the GPS. (Think ghetto and graffiti and it won’t be exaggerating).

But I love to take day trips. I love it even more when my husband lets me be the one to drive! And this is where my lesson comes in.

First let me ask you to think about a word: submit.

Got your definition? So, will you submit your resume to be considered for a job? Or, perhaps you will submit to the rules of authority? Either way you are at the mercy of someone else, right? You are looking for approval or giving up your desires for someone other than yourself.

Ok, back to the road trip.

We decided to stay off the Interstate. Life’s more fun when you take the road less traveled. But I had no idea where I was headed. I had never been down that road before and I was counting on my husband to show me the way. Unlike me, he rocks a GPS!

So there he was, focused on the GPS and telling me which way to go. In my mind, I was lost. I was enjoying the thrill and the adventure of the road, but I really had no idea where I was and it made me a little uneasy. We were headed down a little high way when my husband says, “Ok, turn left here!”

“Here?” I said in disbelief. That way led us into a neighborhood and on to an even smaller road which looked less promising than the one we were already on. I almost didn’t follow his instructions thinking that I knew better. I almost just kept going the way I wanted to go. But then I remembered the ghetto I landed us in when I trusted myself, so I made the left turn. And was reminded of this verse:

I am blessed with a husband whose GPS is not man-made. His GPS is a God-Provided Strength. He knows the way to go because he is always plugged in to his own personal GPS system. I take great comfort in that. Because ‘submit’ isn’t a negative word when you can fully trust the one you are submitting yourself to. If your husband is so connected to his GPS the way he should be, submitting the way we as wives are called to do can be very comforting. If you will read further on in Ephesians it says:

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” Ephesians 5:25-27

My husband is called to an even bigger task than I. To love me as Christ loved the church! Don’t you know that Christ loved the church so much that he gave up his life for her? All I have to do is trust my husband to guide my ways. There is so much liberation in that!

I turned the music down for a second to answer a question from the backseat. My husband made a comment when I turned it back up to where our ears could have actually started bleeding, so I said, “I’m sorry. I’ll turn it back down.”

“No, it’s ok,” he said. “You’re the one driving.”

Isn’t that they way Christ is? He guides us along the way, but allows us the freedom to be ourselves throughout our journey with Him.

That is what it means to submit. Oh, that I could always remember that!

Cooper, I love you. Thank you for 16 years of guidance. Happy Anniversary!