Relationships: Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

No, seriously.  It does.  You are in this thing together.  When you said, "I do," you became a team.  Unfortunately, that isn't at all how most relationships function.  We are largely still stuck in the days where the wife is the sole caregiver for the children and the only one doing housework whereas the husband is the bread-winner and does the manual labor around the house.  

It is true that God created us for different purposes.  Women were designed for a different role than men were.  Their strengths are things like nurturing and keeping house.  That is a fact, but it is also true that men can help with those things.  Men should be the protector, the spiritual leader, and the one that provides strength for a woman.  Women should be the submissive ones that honor their husband and bring him honor and respect because of the way that they conduct themselves; they should be the ones to care for the children and the house.  But when you get married, you are a team. 

In Genesis 2:20-24 we are told one of the many dynamics of marriage.  In these verses, we are told that there was not a proper helper for Adam, so God put him to sleep and created Woman.  They were to become one flesh.  The entire purpose for women being created was to become a helpmate for Adam - a team.  A team is not easy to defeat when they work together.  That's why in Ecclesiastes 4 we are told that two is better than one.  When one falls, the other can help him up.  There is support.  There is encouragement.  There is unity.  

Unfortunately, in a male-dominated society, this is not the dynamic we see play out.  We see men embarrassed to do the work God has called them to because their wife is going to make more money than them.  We see men not caring for kids, except for discipline.  We see men treating women like objects.  Not only that, but women are striving to overcome this male-domination and they are losing sight of all the unique ways that God fashioned them.  They dance on the edge of refusing submission.  We see them trying to be the protector and spiritual head of the household.

This is not how it should be.  It should be a team effort to make all the things work.  Who cares who is making the most money as long as your family is provided for and discipled?  Who cares who does the laundry or the cooking?  Who cares who changes a diaper?  Who cares who gets the oil changed or the yard work taken care of?  I can't tell you the last time I did a load of laundry.  My husband has been doing that for a few months now as I am working to build the dreams that God has called me to.  He sees that my plate is full and I can't quite get it all done, so he chips in to help.  When there is work to be done in the yard, I help him out because it gets done more quickly and it would be brutal on his body to do the work of moving landscaping rocks and hundreds of bricks by himself. 

I can't tell you how many times we have looked at each other and said, "We make a good team."  We truly cannot accomplish as much alone.  We are one.  And because of our teamwork, we are seeing our dreams come alive.