FULFILLED

A Mother's Day Message

Happy Mother's Day Friends! I don't care if you're a Mama or not. If you are a wife, sister, daughter, mother, or friend then you are a MOTHER!

A little refresher on who I am since this is my very first official blog post on this site.

Hi, I’m Lexie. I just had my 5th baby in March- she was healthfully born at home. Yes, I know I look so young and svelt for having 5 children. #LOL. So here is a quick review. My oldest is Tylyn, she is 6. Then we have Hadley who will be 5 next month. Smack in the middle is our only son, Jacson, he is 2.5. Next is Emmy, our 1 year old. And our newest addition is Via, a ripe 1 month old baby. This past year I made the leap into homeschooling my oldest for Kindergarten and I plan to continue along the homeschool journey next year, and hopefully many more years to come. I could talk and talk and talk for hours about motherhood simply because I am absolutely immersed in it. I am in “the trenches” so to speak. But I am going to try and speak about myself as little as possible today.

My Mother and Grandmother.

Let me start by saying Happy Mother's Day to my mother, Beth, she is extremely generous, very involved (often to an obnoxious level), she is a self proclaimed “rabble rouser” and I believe her official job title is “consumer”. I know Beth as Mom, and now I get to know her as Grandma to my 5 kids.

A couple years ago when both of my grandmother’s past away, I was wrapped up in hearing stories of them from different people’s perspectives. My mom’s mom had 4 daughters, 14 grandchildren and some 25 great grandchildren (and counting). For her memorial service, one of my Aunts asked all of the grandchildren to write a memory of Grandma to be compiled in one book and sent out to everyone. Since Many of use were unable to attend the funeral, the stories became a way to remember her from many places around the United States.

In total honesty, I didn’t write my memory of my Grandma until after I received a copy of everyone else’s stories. I had just had a baby and of course life was busy, as it usually was. But once I began reading what everyone else wrote I became obsessed with all of these amazing memories and how different each grandchild’s relationship with our Grandmother was. Within the 14 Grandchildren, ages spanned nearly 30 years from oldest to youngest, and in line I am the second youngest. As you may imagine my Grandma seemed like a different person to my oldest cousins than she did to me! And the most striking discovery is how the other’s interpretation of my Grandma sounded exactly like my interpretation of my own mother towards her grandchildren! I guess sentiments like “the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree” and “like mother, like daughter” really do hold so much truth!

Needless to say, the connection that women have forged across generations is far more than just biology but is actually foretold in the book of life, from the very beginning.

Eve:

We are going back to the very first woman. The mother of us all! Because in understanding womanhood, it is important to look at the women that have come before you, the women that have shaped you and your perspectives, the women that have made you into the woman that You are today! Don’t worry men, you can learn a lot here too. And although we are fairly familiar with this story, I want to offer you the concept that the Eve is Genesis 1-3 has two very distinct identities.

In Genesis chapter 1 it says: 27-28

"So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

NOTE: God’s first command was to “be fruitful and multiply” - This is essential in understanding God’s punishment after the first sin. Their punishment in is direct correlation with this commandment, because, as we will see, God punishes Eve with pain (sorrow, grief) in childbrearing - in other words her punishment is pain, sorrow grief in being fruitful and multiplying, which is what she was designed for. Similarly Adam was cursed with pain (sorrow, grief) in the work of his hands- Again a punishment directly correlated to the command “be fruitful and multiply. So what does this mean? Well, it means that there is a way to fullfill God’s original command,”be fruitful and multiply WITHOUT pain, suffering, and grief. THAT is GOOD NEWS!

Now, in Genesis Chapter 2 God expands specifically on the creation of man and woman. It says:

7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being"...

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

NOTE: Again, WORK WAS A PART OF GOD’S ORIGINAL DESIGN. IT WAS NOT SOMETHING BROUGHT ABOUT BY MAN’S SIN.

18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

AND HERE LIES THE FIRST IDENTITY OF EVE:

One big misconception about Eve is her purpose. Scripture calls Eve, a “helper” for Adam. Most misconstrue this to imply that woman’s sole role is of less importance than a man. People might think this promotes an image of a woman that is “nothing more than a homemaker” or “has no role in the workplace.” I would concur that these views are entirely misogynistic, and further they are not supported in scripture. The actual Hebrew word used in scripture for the word “helper” is EZER. This is the same word that is used in the new testament, to describe the holy spirit,

“And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another HELPER to be with you forever—”

(John 14:16)

Yes, the holy spirit, one of three embodiment's of God, is called the “helper” as well. I love the amplified bible because it is wordier, as am I. It describes helper with the following words as well, “advocate” “intercessor” “counselor” “strengthener”. Women! Do you hear this? You are the helper to Adam in the same form that the Holy Spirit is our living and active helper, poured out onto us, so that wherever we go, the Lord is with us. Our role, in Unity with man, is to be his advocate, his intercessor, his inner conscience, his strength when he is weak. I don’t know about you, But this is a calling I will stand upon like a mighty warrior! And in reality it is a calling I have had to use in my own marriage. Don’t believe the language that the world uses to pervert, misogynize, and minimize the Word of God. God’s word is far louder and clearer than the world can ever be.

I love the way one of my close friends puts this all into perspective, she has a little saying about men and women in regards to their unity. She says, as it also says in scripture, that men are the head of the household. And as she says this she points to her physical head. But women, are the neck that hold the head up and that turn the head left and right and move the head up and down. Women are the hands that serve their family and communities. Women are the spine that carry the weight and burden for their families….

This is a cute description for sure. But it gains so much more power when you put it in context with the description of Christ and his church from Ephesians 5:22-30.

Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as [a service] to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as Christ is head of the church, Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives should be subject to their husbands in everything [respecting both their position as protector and their responsibility to God as head of the house].

Husbands, love your wives [seek the highest good for her and surround her with a caring, unselfish love], just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify the church, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word [of God], so that [in turn] He might present the church to Himself in glorious splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy [set apart for God] and blameless. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. Indeed, no one ever hated his own body, but he nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church. 30 For we are members of His body”.

Are you hearing this clearly? The analogy has never been clearer. As God is the head of the church, and the church the body. Man in the head of the woman, and woman is the body. And yet, neither can function without the other. In fact, God planned it this way. His design for the church is in fact to bring to fruition the Kingdom of God. but I digress, let us get back to Eve.

But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh she shall be called ‘woman,' for she was taken out of man.” 24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. 25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

NOTE*** And they felt no shame!!!

Keep that last sentence at the back of your mind for a moment! Were coming back to it. AND THEY FELT NO SHAME!

Eve was created, BY GOD, in HIS IMAGE, to be an EZER (comforter, advocate, intercessor, strengthener), to be the body, just as the Church is to God. And lastly, Eve was created, like Adam to “be fruitful and multiply.” In fact her name mean’s “lifespring” which Adam gave to her because she is “mother of all living things.” THIS IS EVE’S IDENTITY IN CHIRST!

THE SECOND IDENTITY OF EVE

Now let us look to the second identity of Eve from Genesis chapter 3.

3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

NOTE**** We are deceived by things that are pleasing to the eye and for gaining “wisdom” (worldly wisdom). We continue to trade God’s truth for the world’s “wisdom” and “pleasures”

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?" 10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." 11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

(NOTE***) Remember when I told you to remember that Adam and Eve felt NO SHAME. Here we see that after their sin, they now fully identified with shame. This is the type of wisdom Eve chose- wisdom of her own sin. Wisdom that she is not good enough. Wisdom of her own failures.

12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

NOTE*** The woman was DECEIVED!

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So, back to me for a minute…

If you are doing the math in your head, my 2 youngest children are exactly 1 year apart. Which means my little Emmy was only 3 months old when I discovered I was pregnant with our #5, Via. Can you say, “DENIAL!” Yeeeaaahhh…. I really was not ready to admit to myself or anyone else, even the possibility that I could be pregnant. I mean, I JUST had a baby, and I had publicly declared she, EMMY, would be my “last”. But do you know “who” knew I was pregnant before I could barely even admit it to myself? That is aside from God...

Facebook and instagram.

I’m not even kidding. I hadn’t so much as googled a word in regards to pregnancy. I didn’t dare speak out loud the possibility of my pregnancy in ear distance of the microphone on my cell phone, and yet FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM of all things seemed to, somehow, intuitively, know that I was expecting.

My facebook sidebar became filled with Ads for EPT (pregnancy tests), Crisis pregnancy hotline, prenatal vitamins and supplement … LIKE HOW?! HOW DID FACEBOOK KNOW?! And facebook being the cruel and sinister place that it is, was CLEARLY mocking my distress over the sheer possibility of another pregnancy. I could hear the tone in those pregnancy test ads, “I guess you missed the message with all the birth control ads” … or “YOU are in CRISIS!!! Better call this hotline!” and then the message of “well since your body has literally ZERO nutrients left to nurse AND grow ANOTHER human being, you better start taking 100 vitamins and minerals EVERYDAY FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!!!!!!

Luckily for me the way Instagram showed its instinctual knowledge of my pregnancy was much more uplifting. Literally, within a week of realizing my pregnancy, my Instagram search page was filled with 5th time moms! Not, 3rd or 4th time moms. But specifically moms that had or were expecting their 5th, 6th or even 7th child! So I did what any rational person would do: follow, Follow, FOLLOW! And as I started stalking the lives of these other mothers with an “irrational” number of children, there was more shock and awe; “What?! She has had ALL home births?!” and “She home schools all those kids?!” “Her too?!” “She just had twins and still home schools?!” It was crystal clear to me, moms with more than 4 kids had clearly lost their marbles. Luckily their brains (and good looks) seemed to make way into their adorably smart offspring. #LOL!

Say or think what you want about social media, but to me these 2 platforms (facebook and instagram) are as different as night and day. I did not, nor would I ever dare to, “announce” my 5th pregnancy on facebook. I just couldn’t imagine the backlash of dismayed “friends” telling me that having so many kids was irresponsible, or what a negative effect it would have on the environment, or offering me lessons on how birth control works #eyeroll. Facebook SHOVES opinions in your face so boldly that it makes it hard to stand joyfully, unshaken on the promises of God for your life.

On the contrary, Instagram offered a community and a hope. A place where I could step out and “courageously” announce “I’M PREGNANT AGAIN!” and get mostly uplifting comments and excitement from friends and strangers alike. It also became a place where I was able to engage in “virtual friendships” with so many of those other moms with 5+ kids. A place where we could watch eachother’s lives in complete understanding and laugh at one another’s stories and anecdotes about #adayinthelife #ofchaos. It also became a place where I could ask a question and get really good, Godly, wholehearted advice. And do you know what else, I NEVER ONCE, have felt even a twinge of jealousy for these other mothers. Even when they seem to do things so much better than me! I have learned to LEARN from the strengths of other women. I mean come on! There have been times in my life where I have wondered if women setting competition and comparison aside was even possible.

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So here lies the point of my parable:

Ladies, mothers, sisters, daughters, and the men in the room too… WE DO NOT HAVE TO BE DECEIVED BY THIS WORLD! Yes, we live in a world full of opinions, and condemnation, and misunderstanding, and tension. And yes we live in a broken, fallen, sinful world. But the GOOD NEWS is that we DO NOT, we NO LONGER, have to live deceived!!! It is true, the enemy (in this case facebook) wants to keep you DECEIVED He wants you to live in fear, in condemnation, in feelings of “you against the world”. He wants to keep you isolated and away from uplifting relationships.

Community and relationship is the very last thing the enemy wants for your life!

But God wants to use whatever fear or unknown or difficulty you are facing to draw you closer to Him! He wants to break you free from being deceived. He literally wants to break the chains of sin and death off of you so that you can claim EVERY SINGLE PROMISE that he has ready for you.

God wants you to live in communion with him and in community with others!

He wants to give you a support system, other people who understand your unique situation and place in life, people to encourage you and to grow you!

But Eve's second identity doesn't stop at being deceived. Eve was deceived and then she was also punished.

EVE IS PUNISHED:

14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring[a] and hers; he will crush[b] your head, and you will strike his heel.”

(NOTE***) The “offspring” that God is talking about, The “He” that God is referring to is Jesus.

16 To the woman he said, “I will make your pains (sorrow, grief) in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.

18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.

19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; or dust you are and to dust you will return.”

20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living. 21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken."

WOW! That was a lot of scripture to cover. But the word of God is alive and active so we don’t mind hearing it again and again!

SPOILER ALERT! Here is my main point: God cursed Adam, Eve, AND the serpent. We see all 3 seperate curses. But guess what?! We are already redeemed from these curses! We no longer have to live cursed by the first sin. And how do I know this?... the redemption that came when Christ died on the cross was for not only our current sins, but for the FIRST SIN as well. And right here in Genesis is all the proof we need of that redemption. The curse to the serpent says,

15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring[a] and hers. He will crush[b] your head, and you will strike his heel.”

Many scriptures tell us that God conquers the enemy through Christ; here are just a couple:

“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.”

(Romans 16:20)

“the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.”

(1 John 3:8)

“But God will strike the heads of his enemies, the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways.”

(Psalm 68:21)

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”

(Galatians 4:4-7)

I can see that many of you already knew this! Of course you do! Christ’s death and resurrection is the cornerstone of Christianity. “He saved Us from our Sin” is so commonly understood that maybe we don’t fully understand it at all. Or maybe more so, we do not FULLY practice it at all.

I have heard many a Christian take on the plight of Adam and Eve’s curse of their first sin. In regards to men, struggling in their jobs and providing for their family or saving for retirement, “Well, I guess I am just cursed by the work of my hands.”

And for women, during the hardships of bearing children, raising children, teaching and training Children; “I guess this process is doomed to be painful, full or grief and sorrow.”

Far too often we settle for the HERITAGE (past, history) of Eve’s sin rather than the INHERITANCE of the EVE that God created us to be.

So, What does it look like when we identify with a heritage of sin? When we identify with the second Eve. It makes you:

Doubt. Doubt God’s promises. Doubt He is Good. Doubt He is for you. Doubt yourself.

Feel Isolated or that God is distant.

Defensive: A desire to justify one’s actions, choices, politics, beliefs etc.

Stirs Anxiety, depression and fear in your life. None of these “emotions” are from God.

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

(2 Timothy 1:7.)

More often than identifying solely as a shame filled, sinful Eve, we (as Christians) try to identify as BOTH the Eve that God originally created and commanded AND the deceived and condemned Eve. But we can not. In fact it is impossible to assume both of these identities. And here is why; Eve was originally created for INTIMACY (closeness) with God, while the cursed Eve was SEPARATED from God. We cannot have an identity that is both close to and also separated from God. Thus if you take ANY aspect of your own identity from deception, shame or sin, you cannot be in a close, right relationship with God.

God desperately wants to restore us to the promise of what he first created. That is why he sent his son to die for us! Jesus fulfilled the curse when he died, COMPLETELY! But that doesn’t mean we possess it. In order to possess it we must “first seek his kingdom, and then all else will be added to it.” In seeking the promises of God and identifying with who he created us to be from the beginning, before sin entered the world, then we have supernatural power and ability in Christ! We call this resurrection power!

And that power starts with this:

Women, All Women (not just the physical mother’s reading this today), Hear this! Your name is Eve, “Lifespring”, mother of all the living, Your name is Ezer, helper, advocate, intercessor, counselor, strengthener. You have many treasures that God is waiting and ready to give to you once you STOP identifying as a disgraced, sinful, shameful and condemned woman that was sent away from eternity and close relationship with God. He is calling you home. Literally, ‘Come back to my Garden Eve! I will give you more than your heart could desire.” Jesus fulfilled sin on the cross so we can be joyfully fulfilled in this life and the next!