Common "Husband" Checklist

There's this stereotype going around. A good Christian woman should look for a husband with xyz qualities. Those qualities are usually backed up by obscure or not-so-obscure Bible verses.

(The following qualities have been gleaned from Bible verses found on a website listing wedding scripture readings, as well as observations of real people, and things I picked up here and there from some sermons on the topic.)

~ a man she feels made for. God created Eve because the right partner for man could not be found anywhere in the Garden of Eden. It was like God's creation was incomplete until she arrived on the scene.
~ a man she can stand next to. Despite being created as man's helper, she came from Adam's side. Not his foot or his back end. This is where I think each person being the other's biggest fan comes in. If one is the head and the other the foot, they cannot equally cheer each other on.
~ a man cut from the same cloth. Genesis says "Bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh." Perhaps this is why women are always looking for a guy who likes all the same things she likes.
~ a man with a plan. Men are born to lead. Not just lead women, but to rule the earth and to lead each other. Solomon wooed his girl by knowing exactly where he wanted to take her on a date and exactly what he wanted to do. She could take comfort in knowing that he was not just going to wing it and risk a flop of a date. He cares enough about her to put some time and effort into it.
~ a man who loves her and demonstrates in their relationship an image of God's relationship with all humans. For some reason, metaphor is big in the Bible, including using relationships as metaphors and teaching tools. On the flip side, this is her excuse to ask him to love her regardless of her flaws, and to die for her, not necessarily in a literal sense, but a sacrifice just the same. This gives her a ton of power and has great potential to distort the perfect image of the original part of the metaphor- God's relationship with all humans.
~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. Probably the most misrepresented verses in the Bible. Read the beginning and ending sentences of this paragraph. It is not about romantic love. But, women seem to look for men with all those qualities. To be honest, those are just qualities that make you not a jerk. If your guy lacks these qualities, he's a jerk.
~ a man who guides her spiritually and leads her in prayers and teaches a teen men's Bible study.
~ a man who pursues her. Jacob worked for Rachel's father and endured trickery from his future father-in-law for 14 years in order to finally get the girl he wanted. Hosea led Gomer to the desert and pursued her heart despite her unfaithfulness, as a way to live out yet another metaphor for God. Solomon clearly spent countless hours planning dates and writing poetry to capture her heart.
~ a beloved-lover relationship. You can be married to anyone. A relationship is special when you can say you are married to your beloved.
~ sparks that fly even after 50 years of marriage. That urge to "look nice" for your spouse even though they have seen you fart and burp and puke and all sorts of gross things in all the time you've been together.

I will come out and say it. Just because you can back it up with a verse in the Bible doesn't mean it is a quality you should look for in a husband. It could mean you are misinterpreting the Bible. Just because many churches say to look for a certain quality, doesn't mean you should take their advice. BUT, that doesn't mean that I believe all of the above qualities are crap either. Some are really good things to look for.

But with all the things Christians are supposed to be, combined with all the things Christian men are supposed to be, combined with all the things Christian husbands are supposed to be, isn't it somewhat naive to think that anyone could find a guy who matches all of those things?

I'm not sure the "ideal" husband is out there by everyone else's standards. And my standards? I haven't figured out what I'm looking for. Just a lot of qualities that are, "Oh yes, that sounds nice" as if I'm adding an optional adventure excursion onto the cost of my vacation package.

To be honest, I don't feel driven to figure out what I'm looking for. But I don't like floundering either.