Pursuing Titus 2 » Loving Our Husbands

Where I’ve Been

Mrs. Parunak — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:46:50 +0000

Sometimes living life has to take priority over writing about it. And sometimes being my husband’s helper has to take priority over talking about being a good wife. As I’ve mentioned before, my husband recently started a business. That by the way is the post that got the record holding Awesomest Flame Comment Ever, in which I was reprimanded, not only for the sins of the Duggars, but also for not taking the “time to become educated and establish a career” so I could live in a “spacious house” rather than a trailer (???) but I digress. Anyway, Mr. P is doing design work for medical device start-ups, and while I am no help at all when it comes to engineering, he realized that he had a job for which I was perfectly suited.

He needed a nerd.

He wanted someone to monitor FDA device recalls and automatic class III (de novo) decisions. And who better to tackle a whole slew of government regulations, decisions, and acronyms (let’s not forget the acronyms!) than somebody with a linguistics degree from Stanford? (Good thing I took the time to become educated–maybe someday it’ll pay off and I’ll get to live in a spacious house). And so, I’ve been here at CDRH Learn, the online source for FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health’s Continuing Education Courses. (Lesson 1 for the perpetual linguist: the Food and Drug Administration refers to itself as “FDA,” NOT “the FDA,” like it’s a personal name, as in, “Be sure to notify FDA.” Trippy.) At first, I said that I’d give up my lame social media time to devote to these scintillating (heh) videos, but then I discovered that I usually only resort to Facebook when my brain is mush and my eyes are burning–not the best time to really focus on the requirements for 513(g) submissions or deep questions about what to do when a 510(k) is found to be “NSE,” for example. So that meant that I had to devote my non-mushy-brained computer time to CDRH, which left little time for blogging.

I miss you all (even the flamers in their own special way), and I sincerely hope to get more blogging done soon once I get all up to speed on PMA’s, IDE’s, and MDR (that last one’s not plural–aren’t you glad you know?). In the mean time, if any of you miss me, you can just pop over to CDRH Learn and have a look at 21 CFR Part 820, or something else similarly interesting.

Blessings, friends! I hope to be back in not too, too long.

A Marriage Thought

Mrs. Parunak — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 03:30:10 +0000

Here’s a wonderful little thought to keep in mind about how much marriage means in this world, written by a dear brother in the Lord over at Let’s Talk, the column he and his wife write for a Mennonite book distributor. It’s not a traditional blog, so there’s no comment thread, but I know they’d be really encouraged by a quick e-mail comment. (You’ll find a handy link at the bottom of the article.)

How Important is Your Marriage?

Congratulations, You Married Mr. Right

Mrs. Parunak — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 04:13:58 +0000

I married Mr. Right. If you’re married, you did, too. Mr. Right brings his wife flowers on their anniversary. He also forgets their anniversary. Mr. Right loves his children and spends his evenings playing with them. He also gets irritated and yells about how all their noise makes it hard for him to hear the TV. Mr. Right always cleans up after himself and pays every bill. He also leaves his socks on the floor and gets his electric bills referred to a collections agency. Mr. Right only has eyes for his bride. He also has trouble with Internet porn. Mr. Right always compliments and encourages his wife. He also scorns her every effort and criticizes her in public. Mr. Right always reads the Bible to his family after dinner. He also goes for months without opening his Bible.

Mr. Right is whomever God uses to make you what He created you to be.

Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him. –Isaiah 43:7

If we are called by the Lord’s name, then we were created for His glory. That means that everything in our lives, every joy, every hurt, every failure, every triumph is a chance to glorify Him and, indeed, is about glorifying Him a million times more than it is about us. And that includes marriage.

See, marriage isn’t about getting to be the princess in the fairy tale who lives happily ever after with Prince Charming. It’s about glorifying God.

But it’s easy to forget that. It’s easy to think that since we got married expecting to be happy that if for some reason we aren’t happy, then maybe we married the wrong person. “I thought I’d found Mr. Right, but he turned out to be Mr. Totally, Completely, Miserably WRONG.” And it’s easy to start harboring feelings of everything from discontent to divorce. But God didn’t save us to make us happy by giving us a perfect life free from every disappointment and sorrow. He saved us so we could know the true joy of glorifying Him right in the midst of the disappointments and sorrows. When a husband is perfect, and his who is thankful to God, it means nothing. She is surprising to no one. But when a husband sins and fails, and his wife still rejoices in the Lord, it means everything. That is the kind of shocking display that makes people take note. Either she’s a fool, or God is really something awesome.

Glorifying God when you’re watching your dreams of a perfect marriage wither into dust feels like the stupidest possible path to happiness. But in God’s crazy, mixed-up Kingdom where everything is backwards, it’s those of us who lose our lives who find them. And the ones who stick up for themselves and try to save all their hopes and dreams and wishes, they’re the ones who lose them.

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. –Mark 8:35

Because we all married sinners, we are all going to have at least a few Mr. Wrong moments in our marriages, but those are exactly the times we get the greatest chances to glorify the Lord, to do the one most incredible thing a human being can ever do. And if our husbands’ shortcomings give us a chance to do that, then we can rejoice. We truly have married Mr. Right.