Day 51 - Eve

As I sit with my sleeping 11-month-old son in the backseat of the car, laptop on my knee, I'm reflecting on how much life has changed in the past year. Last time I was here writing a reflection, I was heavily pregnant, preparing for his birth. Now we're planning his first birthday party, including a playlist for background music. I'll include "Growing Up Raising You," which reminds me of how Eve must have felt.

Eve - the first woman. Eve - the first wife. Eve - the first mother. She is said to, ‘represent the essential life-giving maternal function of women and the mother of the human race.’ But her entire story is told in only a few chapters in the Book of Genesis.

Eve arrived on Earth without a mother or a father. She was made by God as a reflection of His image to be a helper to Adam. Eve knew God face to face: she walked with God without worry, fear or stress. She could recognise God’s footsteps. Eve knew a world of perfection and had a remarkable friendship with God. Eve was Adam’s helper tending to the Garden of Eden, the perfect place to live, but unfortunately due to temptation God told them to leave.

After leaving the Garden, Adam and Eve continued to fulfil God’s purpose in populating the world. Eve recognised God’s hand in her role as a mother.

Eve was the first mother, and there was no one to guide her in motherhood. She experienced the pain of childbirth. Each contraction reminded her of the events that occurred in the Garden of Eden. Every pang made her aware of the changes since then. However, every child's face demonstrated that she maintained her relationship with God and continued His mission for her to multiply and fill the earth.

From pregnancy to childbirth, Eve had no idea what to expect; it was all new. She held her first baby with no help, no book to refer to, no internet to Google, or Alexa to ask, no example to follow. She had to figure everything out herself, as the first mother. She was the first mother to see her children grow, learn to crawl, walk, talk and run. She had both sadness and joy in bringing up her children. Eve was the first mother to experience the heartache of seeing a child reject the faith and rebel. She was the first mother to experience the pain of losing a child in Abel. She was the first mother of a murderer in Cain. She was also the first to see many of her children leave home. She was the first to experience the excitement of being a grandma.

Eve realised that her resource was God. She may have sinned in the Garden, but she is a mother who relied on God to get her through difficult times. It was His help, His wisdom, His leadership. After the serpent incident, Eve's faith strengthened, and she raised many children. She was loved, restored, and redeemed as a child of God.

We all strive to have what Eve had... knowing, seeing and being able to walk with God. Her story teaches us that nothing we do is hidden from God. As a mother, Eve acknowledges giving birth ‘with the Lord’s help’ but I also think Eve deserves respect for being the first for so many things. She shows us that God wants us to choose Him freely, and to follow Him and obey Him out of love.

Verity Almond