My wife had a psychotic break (2017). After about 8 days in psychiatric emergency rooms she was discharged. She didn’t return home to me. She didn’t return home to her teenage daughter (my step daughter). She didn’t even return home to her parents (who lived nearby). Instead she went to a Christian ministry (a downtown homeless shelter), hiding from all of us. She stayed there, of her own choosing, for five and a half months, until they kicked her out for not complying with their rules.
I imagine that there were many people along the way who could have said, “what the [bleep] are you doing? You have a husband and a teenage daughter waiting for you at home - why are you here?” But there is a strong culture of “women can do no wrong” out there. Don’t get me wrong - some did confront her over her disastrous choice. But it has always bothered me that many people would just let this happen - even encourage it.
I’ve come to believe in the necessity of the instruction from Paul - “Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.” [Colossians 3:18 NIV] Men constantly correct men - we’re submitting to authority all the time. The church needs to assert its authority over families to prevent these sorts of tragedies.
I have only one demand of her today - submit to my authority - because I know how to protect my family members. She will not. When an evangelical/baptist pastor instructed her, she initially complied, but then stopped when it required her to look at her inner spiritual condition. She didn’t believe in submitting to church authority. I was more submissive, as a former US Army officer, than she was as a woman.
[I’ve commented on your posts before - but this subject never becomes old for me.]
My wife had a psychotic break (2017). After about 8 days in psychiatric emergency rooms she was discharged. She didn’t return home to me. She didn’t return home to her teenage daughter (my step daughter). She didn’t even return home to her parents (who lived nearby). Instead she went to a Christian ministry (a downtown homeless shelter), hiding from all of us. She stayed there, of her own choosing, for five and a half months, until they kicked her out for not complying with their rules.
I imagine that there were many people along the way who could have said, “what the [bleep] are you doing? You have a husband and a teenage daughter waiting for you at home - why are you here?” But there is a strong culture of “women can do no wrong” out there. Don’t get me wrong - some did confront her over her disastrous choice. But it has always bothered me that many people would just let this happen - even encourage it.
I’ve come to believe in the necessity of the instruction from Paul - “Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.” [Colossians 3:18 NIV] Men constantly correct men - we’re submitting to authority all the time. The church needs to assert its authority over families to prevent these sorts of tragedies.
I have only one demand of her today - submit to my authority - because I know how to protect my family members. She will not. When an evangelical/baptist pastor instructed her, she initially complied, but then stopped when it required her to look at her inner spiritual condition. She didn’t believe in submitting to church authority. I was more submissive, as a former US Army officer, than she was as a woman.
[I’ve commented on your posts before - but this subject never becomes old for me.]