Pants Off

#75: Worthy to Wear Pants

"Hi, I'm Debbie, 45. I'm used to wearing pants in the relationship but if I can find someone who's intelligent and trustworthy, I'll be willing to turn my pants in."

-----

This girl right out of a reality TV show is ammonia-blonde with a Dolly Partonesque aura. Heavy eye make-up. Overbrushed hair. Hardly the type of person you'd think of giving the reins of a relationship to. It'd be more plausible to give her a cowboy hat, a guitar and a duet partner named Kenny Rogers. But that's beside the point.

This is one woman who is proud to say that she wears the pants in a relationship. Hmm. My mom, the other day, said something about how my personality probably scares men away. Maybe I'm too strong. Maybe I'm too tough. Maybe she's right. I don't know. But that doesn't mean that I do not believe that the woman should be submitted to the man in a relationship. If the woman is wearing the "pants," then that means the man had, at some point, abdicated his role to lead because of weakness or laziness. A lack of understanding of the crucial difference in the roles men and women play in a relationship has caused a lot of chaos and unnecessary hurt as women grow more and more accustomed to undermining the leadership of men, stepping all over men's egos; while men become more and more of invertebrates, lacking the capability to care for women and carry the relationship.

For me, the implication is, not that I would have to shave off the strength of my convictions in order to be less "scary," but that the guy for me has to have a far more solid and secure base. I cannot turn over the reins to one who is weak, lazy or lost. I cannot crouch unnaturally so that I can technically 'look up' to a guy in feigned admiration and forced submission to his leadership. He just has to be taller in character and worthy of this strong woman's deference. And such height cannot be reached by one who does not have depth in his faith in God.

Too strong a statement? Too tough a standard? Not when you know that the Designer and Architect of all has taken everything into consideration, knows you inside and out, and is preparing for you His best. Why settle for less than "he who is worthy to wear the pants?"