I've gotta say, as a guy, I don't think I resonate with any of those. My temperament is much more contemplative (some might label it "feminine"). I am confident in my manhood, but I think saying that this is what "most men are thinking" is painting with too broad of strokes.

Hi Lori, I've been reading and commenting a lot today because I just found your blog (through Matt Walsh).

In Genesis 2, when Adam is presented with his wife, he says something very beautiful and profound. He says,

"This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called 'Woman',
for she was taken out of man."

The original Hebrew version is loaded with meaning. Adam was tasked with naming a large number of the creatures God had created. The last one that he names is Woman. The name he gives her is profound.

First, when he says, "For she was taken out of man," the word "man" that he uses is not the word 'adam', which also means "man" in Hebrew. The word used here can also be translated to "husband", and it is a derivative of the word meaning "strength". So he actually says, "For she was taken out of The Stronger."

The word for Woman (also "wife") is similarly related to the word meaning "weakness". So he says, "She shall be called The Weaker'."

It is interesting to note that, like with "male" and "female" in English, these two words in Hebrew sound very similar: ish and ishshya. But it is also interesting that, like "male" and "female" in English, 'ish' and 'ishshya' don't actually share a common root. Their similar sound is a coincidence. But it is pretty remarkable that words effectively meaning "stronger" and "weaker" converge to sound so similar, indicating that these names are appropriate terms for a husband and wife.

As a side note, Woman wasn't given the name of Eve until after the Fall. God promised to her a Seed who would undo the Curse and crush the serpent's head, and Adam responded by naming his wife Eve, which means something along the lines of "mother of the living". Thus this new name he gave her was a response made in faith indicating his trusting of God's promise.

This reminds me so much of my mom and grandmothers. My mom has realized in the past ~25 years that my dad isn't always the man she'd like him to be. She rarely complains about him, though, and they have a very happy marriage. My dad is not the fixer-uppper type, but he shocked her when he patched up the damage in the basement before her family came over for Thanksgiving this year.

Her dad is a very stubborn, opinionated man. He is also a very good man, but I think my grandma is the only woman on Earth who could've handled being married to him all these years. Like my mom, she rarely complains about him, and they have a wonderful marriage.

My dad's mother is a widow. In the last couple of decades of his life, my grandpa suffered from a terrible disease called ataxia. My grandma took care of him faithfully and without complaint until he went home to meet the Lord. She is the most selfless, caring woman I have ever met, and before Grandpa died she'd tell me often how blessed she was for the opportunity to take care of him after what a good husband he had been in his health.

This is a bit of a nit-pick, but Sarah technically WAS Abraham's sister. ;) [Note: incest wasn't outlawed until God gave Moses the Law. It's not a sin, but it is outlawed for obvious health reasons that weren't relevant in Abraham's time.] It was a half-truth, but it wasn't exactly a lie. I think that's why Abraham is never condemned for it.

There is a young mother at my church who is just like your friend Sandy. Her husband died of cancer a little over a year ago and left her with two young children. She's in her early 30s. But thankfully, there is a single guy at my church who is a year or two older than she. He's an amazing, godly man whom I deeply respect and admire. They're dating now, and we all hope they'll get married soon.

It's so awesome how God can turn the despair and tragedy of an untimely death into a blessing. Tara never wanted to lose her beloved husband, but God used that tragedy to prepare a wife for my friend. I don't know what He has in store for them, but I'm excited to see it.

I am blessed that my church maintains a very traditional mindset toward gender roles. Most of the women are very meek, and there is a good number of men who are willing to serve and teach. I'm 24 and single, and I'm hoping to find a wife here. After six years of college, I'm realizing all too well how few good women there are out there. Not that I put myself on a pedestal. My own past weighs heavily upon me, and I don't deserve to marry someone of the caliber I seek. But my mother and grandmothers have all modeled godly womanhood for me, so I know I could do no better than to find a wife who behaves and thinks like they do.

This is a sobering post. My mom homeschooled us for six years, 3rd-9th for me. When we moved, we wanted to go to a public school so we could make friends faster. That was such a train wreck.

My parents started going to a church that had an abominable youth program. For the life of me, I cannot understand why they are still there. But by the grace of God, I became best friends with a girl from another church. I started going there my senior year, and I think that is where I was truly saved. Now that I'm out of college, I wish I could've gone back and been homeschooled all through high school. I doubt I'd have met Cari that way, so I can see how God used it for my good, but I still see nothing good about public high school.

One of my sisters entered public junior high. Thankfully, her experience was so miserable that Mom homeschooled her again off and on until she graduated (high school, junior college, and cosmetology school at 18). She's married now, and she and her husband go to a very large church. I haven't been myself, so I can't speak to the doctrinal soundness. But they are professing believers, so that is good.

My oldest brother just graduated high school last year. Public school was good and bad on him. Nearly all of his friends are very worldly, and of the few who profess faith, none live it that I can see. He also professes faith, but I don't know if he even knows for sure what that means. Again, the youth group at my parents' church is abysmal. It'd be better if it didn't even exist. But before he left for Basic Training, he asked for a Bible in a sturdy metal case. And he attends chapel faithfully each week in training. So I'm encouraged by that.

My next sister troubles me greatly. I think public school has done the most damage to her. She was never homeschooled because she and the other two youngest were adopted from Haiti, and they needed exposure to others to become more proficient in English (and Mom couldn't handle homeschooling AND watching them all day—they were monsters when they arrived). But now, this sister is very worldly. She goes to that same horrible excuse for a youth group, and she would say that she's a Christian, but I see absolutely no evidence in her life. Once she came to my church with me. The youth pastor talked about church discipline. She was livid on the drive home. I also know that she disagrees with the Bible on homosexuality. She consistently refers to it as "two people loving each other", though we rarely talk about it anymore. She is a prolific reader, and the heathen John Green is one of her favorite authors.

My youngest sister is much more hopeful. She seems to have a greater interest in spiritual things, and she's dating a kid from her church. Once again, their youth group is a pathetic excuse, but he comes from a very good family. She also is doing a Bible study with a good friend of hers. This friend goes to my church, and her family were missionaries in Brazil for decades before moving stateside to work in the home office as the founders retire. I am very encouraged by that. This sister is very shy and tends to stay in her room except for during meals, but I am pretty sure she is saved.

I keep criticizing their youth group, and I should explain. When my two younger sisters came to my church to visit, one of the first things they remarked to me was how shocked they were that the youth pastor actually had them open their Bibles. They don't even bring Bibles to their own youth group, apparently. All they do is talk about various things and sometimes watch videos of other people teaching. Considering that at their age I was watching Rob Bell's Nooma videos, I shudder to think of the nonsense they're exposed to under the guise of Christianity.

My youngest brother is 11. He goes to a Christian school where my mom teaches. Mom didn't want to work, but for financial reasons it became necessary for her to get a job. (My dad's previous job was so stressful, it was literally killing him. His blood pressure was high enough for him to have a stroke at any moment, and he was so depressed and overwhelmed that he would go days without being able to sleep. Thanks be to God, he found a job in town that was much less stressful, but it required Mom to get a job of her own so we could keep up the house payments.) Anyway, one perk of her teaching at the Christian school is that my brother can go for free. I hope and pray that he will receive a steady feeding of the Gospel so he can become mature in his faith before graduating middle school. From there, he'll probably have to go back to the public school unless my mom is able to homeschool him.

I know this is a long comment, but I am burdened by all of this. It breaks my heart to see how the younger ones have been so negatively influenced by public school. And I am frustrated by my parents' church, but for some reason my dad doesn't want to leave. There's nothing I can do about it, either. I know that for my house, my wife and I will homeschool our children. I'm not married yet, but that will be a prerequisite for whomever I do consider for marriage.