2nd Timothy 3:14-17 “You, however, continue in the things you have learned and   become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from   childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

I look toward the Scriptures for guidance in my line of work, ie. Wife-ing and  Mommy-ing.  Every word of the Scripture is there for me so I look to these God given examples and lessons.

To start at the beginning, I looked at Eve.  Poor Eve has been thought ill of by every laboring woman.  I remember trying to reason with God during one of my own labors.  I told Him that I didn’t eat the fruit…  Couldn’t He suspend the curse just for me?  Yep, It is all Eve’s fault! How about looking beyond the garden incident?  Okay, Her son was the first murderer… maybe Eve was a bad choice as an example?  But God wants me to learn something here so I keep trying.  She led her husband in sin, disobeyed God, tried to hide from Him and then lied to cover.  This isn’t getting any better for her, is it?
 
But I kept looking.  One author said: “If man represented the supreme species, created in God’s image, Eve was the living embodiment of humanity’s glory.  Adam was refined dirt, Eve was glorious refinement of humanity itself.  Eve was Adams necessary partner to make his existence complete and to complete creation itself.” 

Mathew Henry said: “The woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.”

She was the flawless example of feminine excellence.  We don’t know of her physical appearance but in a sermon by Dr. Bill Barrick he said that the original Hebrew expresses Adams response as an enthusiastic, “This one!” with the implication that it was said with the same inflection as “WOW!”

Eve is called “the mother of all living.”  Still we don’t know how long she lived or where.  We don’t know how many children she had, or how and when she died.  But her life teaches us several truths:  Her fundamental equality with her husband, being taken out of man means being made of the same essence.  She was not his inferior but rather his spiritual counterpart, his perfect mate and companion.  Her creation teaches us about the divinely designed role of a woman: Mother, comforter, nurturer and helper.
 
Eve knew that her children were a gift from God. Genesis 4:1 "And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD."  In naming her son Seth which mean ‘appointed seed’, it is evident that she was laying hold of the hope and she believed that her seed would indeed someday overcome the curse and destroy the destroyer as the Lord had said to the serpent in Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel."

If you compare yourself to Eve, you could find comfort in the thought that you have not done all the wrong she did and suffered the extreme consequences that she lived out.  Although in truth, are we really that different?           “But for the grace of God...”

Psalm 119:132-133 “Turn to me and be gracious to me, After Your manner with whose who love Your name. Establish my footsteps in Your word, And do not let any iniquity have dominion over me.”