Sunday, June 05, 2005

Troublemaker or ?

Sometimes I have deep pity for my poor husband. Today was one of those days.

It began innocently enough this morning, when he suggested we attend Sunday School together, something which for various reasons we haven't done for quite some time. There was a bit of a catch to this simple request ♠ he was really inviting me to join the latest "Experiencing God" group at our church.

I'm not a program person. Canned studies all too often give me the willies, whatever they are. My husband knows this odd bent of mine but nonetheless felt it was important for him, as a church leader, to go through this study that so many are all enthused about. He wanted my input as well. Plus, he probably had some notion that this would be a wonderful bonding experience for us as a couple.

Today was the orientation and overview. All was going fairly well until we were directed to read and sign the "Group Covenant" in the back of our workbooks, and then pass them around so that everyone could sign everyone else's covenant.

My husband dutifully signed his without hesitation.

I just sat there. Finally I spoke up, "Covenant is such a serious word."

"Yes, it is," agreed the facilitator's wife. She highlighted the reasons for and importance of several of the items we were being asked to covenant to do.

Meanwhile, my husband was no doubt cringing inwardly. Must his wife begin causing problems the very first day of the class? I remembered all too well his plaintive, despairing plea of our early years of marriage: "Why can't you be like all the other wives?" Alas, he'd had the misfortune of marrying a nonconformist who has all sorts of crazy ideas. (He's even come to embrace a number of those wacko ideas as his own. Poor man.)

I stammered something awkwardly about having a personal problem with signing covenants, because of how seriously they are taken in Scripture. In a feeble attempt to lighten the situation a bit, I joked that I'd made a covenant not to make covenants. My husband, no doubt desperate to prevent my launching into some long speech that might turn into a diatribe, quickly interjected, "The last covenant she signed was when we got married."

The class voted to let me continue despite my bizarre anti-covenant stance. I'll try to behave, really, but I'm sure my husband fears that they will learn to regret that generous gesture.

As for the study itself...maybe I'll post my comments and analysis as we go along. But I won't promise or covenant to do so!

4 comments:

  1. Rebecca,

    I'm with ya! :) I balk at signing those things, too, at least in a group Sunday School setting. ;)

    BTW, my hubby is a pastor, so we do end up using some "canned" programs...at least we can choose the least "obnoxious" of them. :) Experiencing God is a pretty good one!

    I've enjoyed looking over your blog...and wanted to say that I am extremely sorry about your brother Sam. I'm very sorry you and your family have lost someone precious to you...it must make you long for heaven all the more.

    Blessings

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  2. Rebecca, if we ever meet this side of heaven, I know we'd get along! And our poor husbands will too. ;-) (And I've told my hubby about your passion for coffee - he already likes ya LOL!!!) I question everything.

    Once my dh was thinking about meeting up with some old college ministry buddies. We have changed quite a bit in our theology since those days (I guess that's what reading the Word does to folks ;-) ). He was imagining talking with his friends about stuff and having to say, "Hey you'd better quit while you're ahead or I'll sic my wife on you!" LOL!!!!

    We took Experiencing God (a few times, actually) several years back and found it to be really good. Some of it was a bit over the top, but it was a good springboard for thought.

    Of course that was prior to the Skeptic Me..... ;-)

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  3. I respect you for having the guts to hold back on that. I'm not comfortable with those kinds of things either, but usually go along to get along.

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  4. I think I've caused my wife to cringe a few times as well....

    I have to admit that I'm now not a very big fan of Experiencing God, but going through it was one of those watershed moments that forced me to figure out what I really did believe. Which, as it turned out, was nothing like what Blackaby was espousing in his book.

    Have you been reading Met's posts about on the off-topic board about "Individual Will" and all that? If you have and pretty much agree with him then I suspect you'll be causing your husband to cringe a few more times.

    Here's some more fuel for the fire :

    http://www.str.org/free/solid_ground/SG9901.htm

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