Very interesting. I’m new to your writing. Curious what you’d say about the increasing number of women who are opting out of their curse by refusing to have kids at all. Seems to be the same thing.
Amelia, this is so thoughtful, biblical, and well researched. You've obviously given this a lot of thought. It's also distressing because the damage to girls is so extensive and long-lasting. How do we reverse this trend? What does it mean to be salt and light in a world that wants to praise girls for rejecting their femininity? Thanks for posting.
(Oh, there may be a slight math error in the statistic about transgender surgeries being overwhelmingly female to male. Could it be 17.1 percent rather than 27.1? Just wondering.)
Thanks! It turns out the STEM people who wrote the study mistyped that, which makes me a little dubious of my source XD. But the numbers check out to 17.1 percent, so I think it was just a typo.
This is full of wisdom! Wow. Thank you for saying this!
I feel this temptation in each pregnancy: fair pain more than value life; in fact, the struggle seems to grow overall as I become more acquainted with my female frame, or perhaps my frame has become more fragile? It's a struggle of the affections. But I thank God for the Wisdom of His Word, and especially the cross. It's a privilege to bear life, even through pain, in the image of my Savior. So I have great reason to fight to love my life-giving body, even if it is under the curse.
"Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ!"
Thank you for this intriguing and thoughtful essay. I guess I would argue (and I’m not even sure whether it’s a disagreement) that the blessing of mothering and working come not from the pain of the curse but from the creation ordinance itself: fill the earth and subdue it, be fruitful and multiply. After the fall, God’s description of the consequence of sin includes pain and hardship, but we still carry the blueprint of our original good and perfect design and still experience flourishing when we live according to this design.
Yeah I agree with you! I guess my point is more that God’s curse on Adam and Eve didn’t remove the goodness of his blessings, but only made the blessings more difficult and painful. I do wonder, though, how much the Fall also affected us by making us ungrateful for things that come too easily to us. Sort of like spoiled kids. And so the curse also works as a discipline that God used to form our character and help us to appreciate God’s blessings more. I’m studying Hebrews with a friend, and Hebrews 12 is on my mind these days :)
Agree with all this. Ironic, women who avoid their "curse," by working, and getting not just theirs, [because they can't avoid it,] but Adam's too. But by avoiding their "curse" they miss out on the blessings they're especially wired to appreciate. By voluntarily embracing Adam's curse aren't satisfied by the accomplishment as much as he was.
Very interesting. I’m new to your writing. Curious what you’d say about the increasing number of women who are opting out of their curse by refusing to have kids at all. Seems to be the same thing.
I think it definitely is! Just a less demented form than anorexia or surgery.
Amelia, this is so thoughtful, biblical, and well researched. You've obviously given this a lot of thought. It's also distressing because the damage to girls is so extensive and long-lasting. How do we reverse this trend? What does it mean to be salt and light in a world that wants to praise girls for rejecting their femininity? Thanks for posting.
(Oh, there may be a slight math error in the statistic about transgender surgeries being overwhelmingly female to male. Could it be 17.1 percent rather than 27.1? Just wondering.)
Oh yes haha. I will check on that.
Hey, we're liberal arts majors not STEM people. : ) Love this piece! I'm sharing with friends. Okay, now back to my toil.
Thanks! It turns out the STEM people who wrote the study mistyped that, which makes me a little dubious of my source XD. But the numbers check out to 17.1 percent, so I think it was just a typo.
That is simultaneously funny and a little unsettling. Or 17.9 percent, as I see I made a mistake myself. Hmm.
This is full of wisdom! Wow. Thank you for saying this!
I feel this temptation in each pregnancy: fair pain more than value life; in fact, the struggle seems to grow overall as I become more acquainted with my female frame, or perhaps my frame has become more fragile? It's a struggle of the affections. But I thank God for the Wisdom of His Word, and especially the cross. It's a privilege to bear life, even through pain, in the image of my Savior. So I have great reason to fight to love my life-giving body, even if it is under the curse.
"Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ!"
Thanks for the kind words 😊
Also I wanted to commend you on your beautiful piece Panic in the Valley of Dry Bones - if I’m remembering correctly?
I couldn’t find a link to it from your page - only Haley’s newsletter.
Yes indeed. If Paul can say it, we can say, “It’s hard” and “Thanks be to God!” in the same breath
Thank you for this intriguing and thoughtful essay. I guess I would argue (and I’m not even sure whether it’s a disagreement) that the blessing of mothering and working come not from the pain of the curse but from the creation ordinance itself: fill the earth and subdue it, be fruitful and multiply. After the fall, God’s description of the consequence of sin includes pain and hardship, but we still carry the blueprint of our original good and perfect design and still experience flourishing when we live according to this design.
Yeah I agree with you! I guess my point is more that God’s curse on Adam and Eve didn’t remove the goodness of his blessings, but only made the blessings more difficult and painful. I do wonder, though, how much the Fall also affected us by making us ungrateful for things that come too easily to us. Sort of like spoiled kids. And so the curse also works as a discipline that God used to form our character and help us to appreciate God’s blessings more. I’m studying Hebrews with a friend, and Hebrews 12 is on my mind these days :)
Agree with all this. Ironic, women who avoid their "curse," by working, and getting not just theirs, [because they can't avoid it,] but Adam's too. But by avoiding their "curse" they miss out on the blessings they're especially wired to appreciate. By voluntarily embracing Adam's curse aren't satisfied by the accomplishment as much as he was.