Motherhood with Eve

"In the Beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." Gen 1:1-2

There was nothing. God created the entire world with what He wanted it to be and look like. In this world He created man and woman. Have you ever wondered how to do something? In today's world, we get on the internet and search for people who can tell us the answer or point us to the right direction. When we think about motherhood and pregnancy we turn to books like "What to Expect When You're Expecting." We turn from page to page only to realize that their is no textbook answer to pregnancy woes. Each woman is different having picture perfect pregnancies to "I have every symptom in the book" pregnancies. After we have our children, we then wonder what we are doing wrong (or right). Why is little Johnny doing this and not that? Should he be rolling over by now? Is he sleeping enough, eating enough, doing enough? The questions never end.

I say all of this because if there is one mom in scripture that I have the most questions for it is Eve. The reality is this woman had NO example to look to. She sinned. God punished her. As Gen 3:16a tells us, "I (God) will surely multiply your pain in children bearing; in pain you shall bring forth children."

Here are the thoughts that go into my head as I piece this together:
1) Adam and Eve had NO idea being naked was wrong.
2) Did she even know how a baby was created?
3) How would she know how this kid was going to exit her body?
4) Did her body give her hints early on that she would be the one to feed her children until they could eat the crops they grew and game they killed?
5) How do you raise children when you have NO example of a mother?

Now, I understand that God would be an example to her. He showed them love, punishment, and grace. We know that Adam and Eve had Cain, Abel, Seth, and many other sons and daughters. Adam lived to be 930 years old (Gen 4:4).
Facts on this:
1) Cain kills Abel. A mother lives through being the first sinner, being the first mother, and now seeing one of her sons kill his brother.
2) Seth is son that God appoints.
3) Eve is beyond "19 Kids and Counting," if you catch my drift.

For roughly 900 years, Eve has children upon children. She experiences every type of pregnancy there can be, and lives to see many things that her children will do. I've had three children, two of them with nothing to help really relieve the pain. I'm not sure how Eve did it that many times. I don't feel it is a pain that you ever get used to. She and Adam teach their children to call upon the Lord (Gen 4:26). The thing is that we know that with the fall of the man, she must witness them do the very thing God was trying to protect them from doing, sinning.

Eve was the first mom in the world. When people talk about their favorite mom in the Bible they are quick to say Hannah or Mary. However, we forget this beautiful woman. The first and only one to actually come from her husband. She would be punished to want to rule over him though that was not God's will, and she would have to watch the children she bore live in sin because of her faithlessness. Where is the grace in all this? God allowed her to see Seth. He let her know that Seth would bring about THE lineage of God's ultimate plan.

I can't imagine doing this motherhood thing without the example I have seen from my mother and other Christian women much less experiencing pregnancy and birth with no knowledge of what was going to really happen. Eve, you are forgotten a lot because there are mom like Hannah in the Bible, but lady you shouldn't be forgotten. You bore the pain of much more than I will ever experience. We don't know how your story continues or ends, but I hope that it was one that gained faith in the God that created you to honor Him. The heart ache and pain of sin, murder, and just living after your failures I hope you found peace in all of it. I hope you counted it all as joy!

The New Normal

A long hiatus from blogging continues with our family expanding from four to five. God graciously gave us a beautiful surprise in Brother. Just when my husband (the YP), and I thought we were content with just Light and Hollow, God brings us our third son. I must say that our life is much more complete with him in it.

As the YP is gone for a summer camp, I sit at home alone with the three boys thinking about motherhood at it's core. It has made me think about what we have as examples (good or bad) in the Bible. I want to dedicate a few months on this thought.

When we posed with the question, "Who is your favorite mom in the Bible?" Who would you say? I want to explore these moms and get a better understanding of their mothering and their situations.

And so I begin... Moms in the Bible... stay tuned...

Mary & Elizabeth

I just have to stop for a minute and just reflect. There is one sweet thing about a woman, and it is becoming a mother. There are those that God blesses with biological children, and then through the beautiful blessing of adoption. I pray continually for the day that God allows my husband and me to adopt. It is such a stretch of the heart that I want to experience. An experience of His gospel right in your home. It makes me cry; what a huge topic of emotion.

Mary and Elizabeth shared such an intimate period of their lives together. Two pregnancies that would be a game changer for all of man kind. I have experienced three pregnancies. The first, I was young and alone. The second, I was young and felt alone though surrendered by many.  I lost that precious baby. It still cuts me, today. There are only two sets of Mary & Elizabeth... All's grace. The third I had many friends along the same bridge.

We complained together, laughed, and complained some more. :)

Two women experience pregnancies that carried two men that would live a life of danger, two men that would carry the same message, one a messenger for the Messiah, and the other God as man.

You know the saying, God will only give you as much as you can handle. It doesn't sound right at all in this situation. No, God will only give you what He can handle. Think about that. You may realize that 1) You aren't in control. 2) He can give you so much more than what you could ever imagine because He can handle EVERYTHING!

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He kicked.

Those hiccups feel so weird.

Elizabeth, how can a mother the Son of God?

Mary, what will happen to our boys living such radical lives?

Elizabeth, how will Joseph accept this boy? Will he love them like his own?
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The worst thing a parent can go through is seeing their child die before them. I've heard that. I've witnessed it with my best friend.

Elizabeth was older in age. Did she witness her son being hunted down, beheaded, and served on a platter to a jealous king's wife and daughter?

Mary saw her son not be understood by his other siblings; she saw Him followed and abandoned. She witnessed Him being dragged on the streets up to a man that would judge His faint. She would weep as she heard the nails being driven into His wrist and ankles, weep as He hung naked in sweat and waste, and weep as He announced, "It is finished!"

Friends, relatives, sisters...

Holding on to one another because the path of their present was ever so sweet, but their future was not what they imagined they would be.

So much thinking due to two paper dolls, that's God working in our Advent season. Remember Him, His Cross, and His Hope!

Mary is making her way to Bethelem

I love this season. I have to figure out a way to keep the excitement of Christ all year round in our house.

Isaac was the sacrifice. Oh, but the real sacrifice found in a ram stuck in a bush. The ultimate sacrifice a pure lamb, Jesus Christ. What a story that needs to be told!

Zechariah silenced for his disbelieve, but he was ever so faithful.

Gabriel (The Messenger) and Mary (Christ's Mother)

*Do you see the sketch? My six year old drew out his pattern, 

and he asked me to cut out the fabric. I think we are a good team.

The Flood and the Rainbow Promise with The Crown of our Prince of Peace

DAY 4

DAY 2

"Truth in the Tinsel"

*The boys' crowns weren't painted. We used colored paper of their chose.

cleaner alternative :)

Truth in the Tinsel

We are doing a new book this year, "Truth in the Tinsel". We do this in the morning, and Ann Voskamp's devotional in the evenings with daddy.

These have been very precious moments with our boys during this Advent season. I am so blessed to have this tradition starting in our family because our only true hope and promise is in Him. Why create the false character in Santa Claus, when we have the real thing in Christ Jesus.

Here is our season so far:

NOV 29

NOV 30

DEC 1

DAY 1 Truth in the Tinsel

The Evolution of a Christmas Tradition in the Holt House

Today begins our third year of tradition with our Jesse Tree. Each year we have arranged it differently, but this year is by far my favorite setup. Each year me changing and making something to new to make it more of our own.

In 2010, we began our first adventure with this tradition. I built my Jesse Tree Book, and it started with a mini-tree. The ornaments printed and surrounded by green paper (Luk's favorite color), with a the cheapest mini-tree I could find on our budget.

In 2011, we continued our tradition, but used our candle wreath ("Cradle to Cross") differently since Logan was touchy feely baby. As a gift I received the wreath, candles were not going to happen so I spend the evening painting corks gold and spiraling wire to make our ornament stands (new ornaments). Then, since our house was small we used a small tree and adorned it with the scripture from the Jesse Tree Devotional.

Now in 2012, we have our "Stump of Jesse", our "Cradle to Cross" Wreath all working together to bring a remembrance to our Christmas season. We don't have a Santa come visit our home, but we enjoy teaching about who he represents in St. Nicholas. Our real Christmas tree is now covered in the truth,

and I am incredibly excited to start this year off, in our new church, new jobs, new home, and new "stump." The backyard had this beautiful limb on the ground just for us, an empty two-liter bottle knocked over on the table from the night before, and so I began. Left over ribbon from crafts before covering the unsightly bottle, the limb wrapped with green twine and single golden ribbon leading to the top signifying Christ's reign, and a little bit of our bunny's hay to decorate around our stump.

We are ready to celebrate His coming, His reign, His birth, and soon... His death.

Merry Christmas!

All our tradition resources come from www.aholyexperience.com