I just had a thought and then I thought, this might make a good blog entry...esp. since it's been a while since I've updated this one.  I, myself, am a single lady, and therefore, when I do a lot of things in my life, and make certain decisions, I don't really have to ask anyone else.  It's between me and God.  But, I am also a Christian, and I firmly believe in the commands in the Bible, "Women, submit to your husbands. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church." 

So, when I get married, I know that my independence will change, and in areas where I think I know better, I will have to learn and readly submit to my husband in his decision-making.  Not to say that I will follow blindly, but hopefully the marriage will be a forum, where my views and ideas are easily given and received, and then a more appropriate decision can be made for the family as a whole. 

But this is all fine and dandy.  What I was really curious about is everyone's thought on how much authority the man has in a marriage...does it extend to every day minor things (goodness, I hope I wouldn't be expected to call my hubby when trying to decide between a chicken wrap or a ham sandwich for lunch), and for even the globally big things?  Like in America, we have the sovereign right to vote individually.  We have an opportunity to declare our own beliefs, views, and thoughts on how our government should be run.  When I go in the voting booth, would I be expected to follow my husband? 

Some might think this is a weird question, but I really want to know your thoughts on it.  Where do the lines of submission begin and end?  There are some things you just don't agree with your spouse on...could you put those aside to submit even in the voting booth?  It's a pretty big decision.  Even if you aren't Christian, how much loyalty do you give to your SO?  I can't say that I have my own established idea on this.  I'm still hammering it out in my own mind, and probably won't be able to decide what I would do until I'm faced with the circumstance.  What about you?!  Please tell!

There are some parts of Hollywood that I just don't pay attention to, but when I see the title of an article including a celebrity's name and God/Jesus, or it might possibly shed some light on their spiritual beliefs, my eyebrows raise.  If you haven't read, there was a plane that crashed during take off back in September in South Carolina.  DJ AM (Adam Goldstein) and his buddy Travis Barker were on board.  The pilots and two passengers died, and DJ AM and Barker received critical burns.  After recovery they jumped back on the horse, so to speak, and have done at least one performance since. 

I just saw this article from People saying that if DJ AM had not been hospitalized for the burns from this plane crash, he might not have found out about a blood clot in his leg from all the regular flying he does.  He has over 2 million frequent flyer miles!  Amazing.  But, it could have found its way to his heart and that would have been it, cardiac arrest and he'd be done.

Before I clicked on the link, I wondered if Goldstein would acknowledge God or not.  I don't know much of anything about him.  According to Wikipedia, he has been engaged to Nicole Richie...which doesn't gauge too high on my charts, but who knows.  At the end of the article, though, he makes this statement, "I have great faith that everything happens for a reason." (and the part that TMZ conveniently leaves out of its article of the same story) "I put my life in God's hands."

Now, I don't know what that means to him, but it sounds pretty good.  Goldstein is an obviously Jewish name, but there's no way to tell if he adheres to Jewish beliefs or Christian, or any particular theistic belief system. 

What I'm curious about is if anyone knows anything more about this guy.  Like I said, I don't know much about him, but this is interesting to me.  How do you feel when a celebrity begins to talk about God?  How do you feel when one begins to talk the talk but remains in the immoral atmosphere of so many parts of Hollywood? 

Links:

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20233680,00.html?xid=rss-topheadlines

http://www.tmz.com/2008/10/17/dj-am-plane-crash-saved-me-for-real/

I really like Excel spreadsheets.  They're so cool with their formulas and grids and table and whatnot.  I know I don't know how to use them to their full-extent...but I really like them.  Tonight, I decided to check out my finances for the remainder of my mission here in Japan.  I added up my expenses for the month (bills back home...like school loans and card payments, etc) and then multiplied that amount by the number of months I have remaining here.  Then I put the money that I have in my bank account (money that was donated for my trip before I even came out) and deducted my expenses.  My jaw dropped...according to my figures, I wouldn't even have enough to buy my plane ticket home.  I was shocked.

I'm pretty good with money, I keep a pretty good handle on things, but these past few months, I've kind of let things go without paying much attention on it.  I'm really sad. 

Ok, sometimes I feel like God owes me certain things in life.  A lot of times, it's silly stuff...stuff that God is not obligated to give me...and even the things that I can legitimately expect from Him, He's not obligated to give them to me on my own timeline.  But when looking at my spreadsheet, I felt a wave of obligation come over me.  Seriously, I came out here to Japan for a year...I didn't want to come out here.  But God set things up and I couldn't ignore Him...so I came.  I came knowing that God works in amazing ways and that in my faith to follow Him even when it didn't make sense to me or others, God would do a good thing.  He wouldn't leave me hanging.  So I started praying to God...well, more like telling Him what's what and how He better get His act into shape.

I was reminded of Moses.  Moses liked things to be on his own timeline, but he also walked in faith with God.  Sometimes God would become fed up with Israel because the people would start complaining the God wasn't going to take care of them and they would often start worshipping idols.  God would be telling Moses all these judgments that would be falling upon the nation of Israel.  Moses, standing in amazement, actually held up his finger and said, "Um, God...don't You remember that these are Your chosen people?  You promised that You would preserve them...and You don't want all these other nations to think that You are not a God of Your promises."  It wasn't that God needed to be reminded of this promise...He knew it.  He never breaks His promises.  And because Moses, in his faith, petitioned God for mercy, God granted mercy (whether by turning away His wrath or postponing it).  It wasn't that God changed His mind, in the way a person can change his mind...but because of Moses' faith and righteousness (and in other accounts, because the people repented of their sins), God's intense judgement was not necessary. 

While praying, this came into my mind.  I've always been at awe of Moses, that he was willing to "remind" God of His promises, but I suddenly thought that I have the ability to do the same.  Whether in sin or in genuine petition, God knows my heart, and He wants to hear my thoughts. So, I reminded Him of the promises He made to me...not really specific ones, but the kind that, "If I follow God, with childlike faith, then He will not let me fall.  He has only good for me.  He has a plan for my life and will see it through, and it will be a good plan."

As I finished the prayer, I remembered that I made a miscalculation.  I included about $200 extra in my expenses each month.  So I changed that.  I also realized that I multiplied my expenses by 7 months instead of the 6 months I have left.  When I fixed that, I couldn't believe my eyes.  The sum of my remaining funds came to, $2911.  Now...this isn't a whole lot better.  With the rising gas prices, airfare has really increased in price.  BUT, the significance of these numbers is wonderful.  It was a little gem of hope and love from God.  When I see these numbers, I immediately think of Jeremiah 29:11.  It says,

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD.  Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."

Isn't that neat?!  Even though the result of my miscalculations wasn't thousand of dollars of difference...I came to the wealth of goodness of God, that I am in His hand, that He truly does have a plan for me.  Even when I act like a child with Him and complain that the things I'm seeing aren't what I want to see, He is still gracious to me and reminds me of His love and His promises.  He does keep His promises.  We have that amazing hope and peace!