“You’re awfully quiet tonight.”
    Instead of responding, Sally Schultz pushed a stalk of broccoli around her plate.
    “What’s up, Honey?” prompted her husband Michael.
    Her eyes lifted to his, and Michael’s hopes sank when he saw that expression. “Okay, Hon, what have I done this time?”
    “Why don’t you take a guess?”
    “If I knew, I would not be asking,” he replied defensively.
    “I bumped into your mother in the supermarket when I picked up dinner tonight, Mike.”
    “So? So what?”

“Seems you’ve changed your mind about our decision to move to Brisbane,” said Sally.
    “Oh, that. I’ve been having some doubts about the move, so I rang Mum today and ran them past her. We decided after much discussion that it was in our best interest to stay here in Sydney.”
    “Who’s best interests, ours--or you and your Mums,” said, Sally bitterly.
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “Here we go again--how many times do we have to go through this, Mike?”
    “If you’re about to accuse me of having a ‘Mother’s Complex’ again Sal, forget it. This is about our future. Going to Brisbane would have been a mistake--Mum helped me to see that.”
    “And it didn’t occur to you to that I, your wife, should be included in making this decision?”
    “I was going to tell you…”
    “It’s not about ‘telling me.’ It’s about talking through it with me. Time and time again, you ring your mother and do whatever she says, although we’ve already decided to do the exact opposite. We’ve spent months discussing this move to Brisbane, we’ve been looking for a house every night on the net, and now, suddenly, after one talk with her, you drop it all.”
    “She made a lot of good points, Sal. We’d be away from Mum and Dad’s support--which we will need when we have kids, we’d miss all of our friends, and I’d be sacrificing a secure job for an uncertain future…”
    “Whether these points have any relevance is not the issue, Mike! The issue is that you keep making these life changing decisions with your mother instead of with me!”
    “Why are you making such a big deal over this Sal?”
“I didn’t marry your mother, Mike, I married you. We are supposed to be a man and wife--you know--and plan our lives together? I’ve had enough of being left out of this process.”    
Mike slapped the table. “Enough? You want to talk about enough? Okay then. I’ve had enough of your noncompliant attitude, Sal. The Bible says ‘wives, submit to your husbands.’ When are you going to put that into practice instead of harpooning my every decision?”
Sally stood to her feet. “We’re quoting Scripture at each other now, are we? You know the marriage counsellor told us that we are not allowed to quote the Bible at each other when we fight.”
“Tough, Sal. It’s something you need to hear.”
“Okay, if you want to quote Scriptures? Then…” Sally began.
“What, you going to hit me with, ‘husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church,’ are you? I made this decision for both of us, Sal.”
“Don’t interrupt,” said Sally, slapping the table, “I was going to say ‘for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.’ You apparently have no problems with the ‘becoming one’ bit, but the first part, well, I just can’t see it, can you? You mother is in the centre of every decision we make.”
Mike did not reply but glared at her while a multitude of thoughts flashed through his mind.
    Sally sat down and took his right hand in her own. “Look, Mike, we’ve been so excited about this move to Brisbane, remember? We can’t afford a house in Sydney, but can in Brisbane. Think of it, our own house! We were so looking forward to the warmer weather instead of this detestable cold we hate. We’ve been so excited about the prospect of new jobs, a new church, and living in a city that does not move at the speed of light. Remember?”
    Mike sighed. “Yeah, I remember. Does seem kind of inviting, doesn’t it?”
    Sally nodded emphatically.
    “And although secure, my job is a dead end,” said Mike thoughtfully.
    “So can we?”
    “Can we what, Sal?”
    “Can we make this decision ourselves?”
    “Oh, why not. Let’s go hit some Brisbane real estate websites.”

**********

Ephesians 5:22, 5:25; Genesis 2:24 (NIV)

By Peter Stone