Juggling Family Priorities

I just watched 'Cheaper by the Dozen' with Steve Martin, Hillary Duff and a host of others. I guess that movie represents the extreme of trying to juggle the responsibilities of a family. Although few people can identify with having 12 children, we can all identify with the difficulties of trying to juggle our time to meet the responsibilities we have for each individual while pursuing a relationship with God... and maybe even attempting to keep sane. Ephesians provides some principles that help. Beginning with chapter 4 the Apostle Paul explains how we can now live in light of the new people that we are based on our faith in Christ. In chapter 5 under the category of living (NASB 'walking') wisely the Apostle applies a principle that a non-spiritual person would never consider. The first priority is to submit to God. One submits to God by being 'filled with the Holy Spirit'. 'Filled with the Holy Spirit' has little to do with charismatic gifting. Rather it is primarily letting God control our choices in somewhat the same way as alcohol controls the choices of a drunk. The parallel seems crude, but is legitimate. So the 'let go and let God' theology does have some merit.
After one submits to God, the Apostle calls families to submit to each other (and we can apply this idea of submission to the broader church family). Husbands are to submit to wives by means of offering a sacrificial love. Wives are to submit to husbands by offering them respect. And finally, children are to submit to their parents by offering respect. With any normal interpretation of this text the follower of Christ is quickly driven to make sure that he/she has first submitted to God or the remaining submissions will never see the light of day.