The past several days I have been posting exerts of a short story I wrote after my father passed away. Writing was a way for me to deal with his loss. Writing was God’s way of filling me with good memories of my dad. I called this short story “Eden Calling.” I started at the beginning of God’s Word and just began writing my thoughts of the everyday life of Adam and Eve. What was it like to be the first family? How did Eve handle the first pregnancy of mankind? As I wrote my version of their story, it helped me see, we all long for Eden. We long for the days of innocence in the garden before “the fall.” Those days of innocence and walking with God in the cool of the day was the simple life we were created for. Inside each of us, I believe that Eden is calling.
“Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.” Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.”
Genesis 4:1-2 NIV
http://bible.com/111/gen.4.1-2.niv
The young family settled into a new routine. Baby Cain added another responsibility onto Adam’s plate. He soon realized making sure this family had enough food in their home became just a little bit harder. He would have to toil and work the ground longer now. Eve faced the reality of a baby in the home also. Cain was a demanding baby. It seemed he constantly needed attention. Now, not only was she a wife, but she was a mother also. She was the first mother. She didn’t have any how-to books to read. She couldn’t go home and ask her mom for advice. She was the pioneer of all mothers. She was the one to write the how-to books. Period. Boy did she miss those walks in the garden with the LORD GOD now. Did she have a list of questions for HIM! “How will I do this?” she wondered at times. That night Cain was finally asleep. And sleeping peacefully it seemed. She rolled into Adam’s arms. She needed him. She needed his strength. And he needed her. The stress of the days were too much for both of them. And the two became one flesh that night. They lay naked in each other’s arms and they weren’t ashamed or embarrassed to be in each other’s presence. They pulled from the other’s strengths. They became stronger together. That night they completed the other one.
A few months later Eve determined she was with child again. Joy filled her being. The strain of Cain’s pregnancy had been forgotten because a baby had been born, and now she was about to have another. She knew the extra burden this placed on Adam but he would be pleased. They were created to be fruitful and multiply. This news would fill him with purpose again.
This pregnancy was different than when she carried Cain. It was just as hard, but in different ways. Now she was still caring for a baby with another baby growing inside of her. But this baby growing in her wasn’t the struggle she had with Cain. It seemed Cain was always at war in her belly whereas this child had a sense of peace about himself. She pondered these things in her heart. She observed Cain as he played on the earth. Even then she could sense he was trying to dominate everything he touched. His name meant “acquirer”. She watched him
wanting to acquire everything in his sight for himself. She saw this even in his play. She heard the call of the wild calling out to her baby. She recognized the voice. It was that faint whisper she heard those nights lying in the garden. She felt helpless. She wanted to ask God what to do but she felt she couldn’t bother Him. She bought that lie and she left it alone for now.
The time had come. Another baby was to be brought into this world. Eve knew it. She screamed out to Adam to come now. Maybe this time would be easier since they knew what they were doing. She tried to comfort herself with these words. Why did she always get so scared to give birth? Then she remembered God’s punishment, “I will greatly multiply your grief and your suffering in pregnancy. And the pangs of childbearing; with spasms of distress you will bring forth children.” So she prepared herself for the truth of those words as she screamed Adam’s name.
They had their second son. They watched him take a deep breath with his first cry so they named him Abel. His name also means a vapor, or more precisely, the steam that escapes one’s mouth on a cold winter’s day. Adam and Eve had no idea at that moment Abel would be but a vapor of a life here on earth. They couldn’t possibly know but everything lay before God. They watched on, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They knew the beginning to the end. They watched the seed of domination and jealousy being planted in the first son’s soul. It was a symptom of the poison from the forbidden fruit. They knew the only antidote was the blood of the Only Begotten Son of the Creator. So they continued on with the plan that had been established from before the beginning of time.
Children are a gift from God. Adam and Eve knew this and they cherished these two God had given them. Each day with Cain and Abel brought joy unspeakable mixed with surprises and frustrations. It is the way of family dynamics. As they watched Cain and Abel playing that day their love for them knew no bounds. Was this what the LORD GOD felt watching over them during their walks with Him in the garden. They still sorely missed those days. They often felt the presence of the LORD these days. But it wasn’t the same as the innocent days in the garden. That day as they basked in their love for their children, they heard God whisper to them, “The love you have for Cain and Able is but a shadow of the love I carry in my heart for all of you. You have but a glimpse of my love growing in you.” There were no words to express the Heavenly Father’s great love for them. Even their parental love could not paint that picture. It was a dim reflection, but it was a start.