Some reflections on Eve

Eve, the first woman. She seems like a natural starting point for a Christian woman who wants to understand more about God's intention for her, more about what it means to be a woman.
I am currently studying the women of the Bible with a wonderful friend of mine. We're reading and working through "The remarkable women of the Bible" by Elizabeth George. And of course the first chapter was all about Eve - the first to experience so many things which are integral parts of most women's life (being a wife, a mother, experiencing the pain of childbirth and the agonizing pain of loosing a child). She had to figure out the same things we sometimes struggle with: her relationship with God and her relationship with her husband. What does it mean to be a woman and a wife?

Here are some of the things which stood out to me while pondering Eve's story:
It is good to be a woman. God created woman with a special purpose. She was necessary for creation to be finished. God first created the animals and the man. Then He declared

"It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." (Genesis 2:18).

The suitable helper was the woman. Only after having created the woman too, God pronounced creation "very good" (Genesis 1:31).
Woman is created for the man. She complemets him in ways no other created being and no other thing can. The special bond between man and woman, I think, is expressed through the fact that God did not create the woman from dust as He created the man, but He created her out of the man's rib. Man and woman belong together.

Woman is created to be a help meet. As a wife she is to be a help to her husband. The Hebrew word for help meet is "ezer" which means help. It derives from the verb azar which means to surround, to help and to protect. The same verb is used for God's help in several verses throughout the Bible, e.g. Deuteronomy 33:29 or Psalm 115:9-11. Therefore a wife is called to support her husband, to complement him and to be a help to him. According to the meaning of the verb azor, this help is strong and active, an image we also get from the woman of Proverbs 31. But at the same time it is clear, I think, that all her activity should not be directed at her own advancement or success, but at the man's (and that of them together and their family). A wife is called to support her husband, not herself alone.
In this context E. George mentions a verse from the NT.

"The man is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of man" (I Cor 11:7).

To be truly honest, this is a verse I'm struggling with. Not that I dislike its implications per se, but I do not understand the meaning of this verse very well. What does it mean that the woman is the glory of the man? Does it mean that her behaviour reflects on her husband? Does it have implications for how she is to treat her husband in public? To be respectful to him and not to belittle him in front of others (that's definately not glorifying your husband)?

God also issues the creation mandates. Man and woman are called to be fruitful and to subdue the earth. After the fall part of the punishment for Adam and Eve - which we still suffer today - is connected with these mandates and their specific roles. The pain of childbirth is greatly increased due to the fall (Genesis 3:16). But God was faithful and helped Eve through the births of her sons (Genesis 4:1). This is another lesson we can learn from Eve. No matter how grivous our sin, God is faithful and deals faithfully with us according to His word.

Mini-moon

I thought I'd share some more pictures. A week after our wedding we left for a weekend get-away to Leipzig as a mini-honeymoon (or as our friend called it a "mini-moon"). We spent three days in Leipzig which is situated in the Eastern part of Germany (which was the GDR until 1990).
My DH's father was born there as was my grandma, so there is quite some family history attached to that city. Fortunately the weather was great. We spend hours walking around different parts of Leipzig and sitting in nice little pubs. Some of the sights we did include the Thomaskirche (the church were Johann Sebastian Bach, the composer, worked and is buried), Nicolaikirche (where they had the important and famous prayer meetings connected with the Monday demonstrations which led to the downfall of communism in the GDR), the Stasi museum (Stasi was the secret service in the FDR spying on the citizens), the German Administrative Court and the Völkerschlachtdenkmal (a monument commemorating the battle at Leipzig which the Allies won against the invading French emperor Napoleon I in 1813).

The Wedding

We've been married for six days now! The wedding was beautiful and so much fun. Although we were a little worried the day before. It didn't rain - it poured! For hours water came down, thunderstorms raged and a town close by Paderborn was flooded... But on Friday morning after a little drizzle from the sky, it stayed dry for most of the day.

In the morning we prepared the car which would take us to the town hall. My DH's (yeah - can use that abbreviation for the first time :)) brother drives an old-timer, an old French Citroen DS. Then it was already time to get dressed ourselves and off we went. We forgot my flowers, but fortunately a cousin living next door brought them to the town hall. Everybody started arrving. Quite a lot of friends decided to take the two-hours drive to Paderborn to celebrate with us. My Matron of honor just made it on time!

Then the ceremony began. Of course a civil wedding ceremony speeds by. It took only about 15 minutes, I guess. But the lady conducting our wedding did a rather nice speech and was all friendly. The room was really pretty, the building is quite old. I couldn't stop smiling for a minute. After publicly confirming that each of us wanted to marry the other one, it was time to exchange the rings and of course for a kiss!


Here my DH places the ring on my finger. Then I signed the official documents for the first time with my new name. I still have to get used to it!

Here are our rings:

Afterwards we celebrated right outside and took loads of pictures. And we had to wait for the next couple - our friends got married half an hour later (by coincidence!).

This is a picture of both our close families together.

This is my Matron of honor, pregnant with her third daughter. I wish you could all get to know her!

And here we are with our car!

The bride and groom!

Then we left and continued to celebrate in the garden of DH's parents. The lady in front is my sister! She came all the way from Munich by train... We always have lots of fun together :).


Our wedding cake! And our great friend who made it herself. She'll bake the wedding cake for the church wedding too. It looked great and tasted delicious (chocolate & orange cake).

The cutting of the cake

It was a wonderful day. I am so thankful. God has blessed us so much!

Just five days away

Did you see the addition to my blog header? This week will bring the most exiting change in my life so far... On Friday I will marry the love of my life. I will become a wife.
This will be our civil wedding. Here in Germany you are required to do a civil wedding first before you can do a church wedding. We decided to have our church wedding next year, mainly because of my legal bar exam.

I am very exited. Not nervous or afraid though, but exited and maybe a little apprehensive too. It is a big change to go from girlfriend and fiancée to ... wife. I have been dreaming of marriage for so long, it seems almost unreal that it is really about to happen THIS week. I am so looking forward to the future with my beloved and all that God has in store for us.

I wanted to post more in depth about becoming a wife and glorifying God, but unfortunately I am so tired that a meaningful post will have to wait until next time...

So sad, but such a beautiful song

I watched this video for the first time at Anna's blog. So sad. As I'm getting married soon, I think about children often. I love children. I still dream of having many. But sometimes I wonder - what if I will not be able to conceive? What if there will be no children? How will I handle it if we have to wait for a long time. I have several dear friends who had to wait a long time or are still waiting. It can be so heart-wrenching.
No matter what God's plan is for me, I know I want to act in a sensitive way around young married couples who have not had children yet. Who knows their story?