"In Pain You Shall Bring Forth Children" (4/15/2024)

It was the woman’s fault… 

Okay, Adam didn’t quite say those words, I think the verse actually goes, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

And then there was suffering in the world. 

Yesterday, Sierra and I welcomed our third son, Austin Ryan Wells to the world. Child-bearing is a pretty amazing thing. When you question the existence of a higher being (AKA God), stop for a moment and think about the chain of events that would have to occur for the creation of the universe from nothing, to the intelligent and perfect being of a human woman carrying a child, delivering a new life into the world in the presence of modern medicine and incredible people who know the ins and outs of every aspect of the human body, supported by a husband and loved by a family of people who will be there to raise that child alongside mom. I fully recognize and empathize with the fact that not everyone shares that exact same experience, but the key takeaway here is ‘from chaos does not come order’, and ‘from nothing, can nothing be created’, there is no answer other than God. 

I have been focused on Genesis 3 for a couple weeks now knowing that this day was coming and excited to share my observations of how suffering entered the world, and why it’s so relevant to the topic of child birth. 

For the greater part of the last three and a half years Sierra has either been pregnant, or caring for an infant. It’s been an incredible journey for both of us, but what I’ve come to gain is the utmost respect for the experience of childbearing and motherhood. Sierra has faced physical discomfort, hormone changes, exhaustion, surgery in the form of C-Section, and now for the third time is going into the recovery phase, working hard to get her body back to normal function, and all this while nursing a newborn and caring for two toddlers. That’s amazing. 

What blows me away is the way this all came to be. God put Adam and Even in the Garden of Eden, the most pristine, perfect, sinless, bountiful place to ever exist. He gave them everything they could possibly want or need and he entrusted them to keep dominion over all of creation and to go forth and multiply. And in man's broken nature, because of our desire to have control and our lack of trust in God, they did the one thing that God asked them not to do, and the eternal consequence of that decision was the fall of the world and all mankind. One might ask, what would it be like if they didn’t eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, but the desire for control is ingrained in all of us, and if it wasn’t them, it would have been their children or grandchildren, or somewhere on down the line, someone would have wanted to be more powerful, and more knowing that God, and brought brokenness into the world for the rest of us to live with. 

The punishment for this decision is given in Genesis 3:16, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” Because of the selfish nature of man, and our desire to rule even in a perfect world with everything we could ever need, women were left with the pain of childbearing, and the command to let their husbands lead them, even though it goes against their greatest desire for control. 

As you know, The Suffer Club is all about choosing to expose ourselves daily to physical suffering and challenge as an act of worship to God. We know that we will never face suffering like that which Jesus faced on the cross for us, and because of that, we’re eternally grateful for all that his suffering has done for us. Today however, I want to praise Sierra, for bravely facing what, aside from Jesus' death on the cross, might be considered the ultimate act of suffering, out of love for a child who until just yesterday morning, didn’t even exist outside of the womb and who she doesn’t even know yet. I think there isn’t a better example of what The Suffer Club stands for and believes in, and so this one is for her. 

If you aren’t feeling up for it today, because you’re tired, or sore, or the weather is bad, or you don’t feel like reading your bible, or you went to church yesterday so you’re good, or one of the many other excuses you can come up with, think about Sierra, she’s our example for today of what it means to bravely endure suffering out of love for others and a loving respect of our God, and get out there and make it happen.  

Update: Friday 4/12, 11:01pm:

I thought I had finished this entry this morning, but I found a little more. I was sitting on the couch after a great day, we spent time as a family, I got in a good cycling workout, a little leg day, dinner at our favorite spot, a glass of wine with Mom and Dad, and I sat there with a nagging feeling that I needed to run. No idea why, I love running, but not at night, not after a glass of wine and a pile of wings, and not while I’m literally getting ready for bed. So I prayed. For 4.79 miles I prayed. It was dark, it was quiet, and I could smell the fire pits burning, and the smell of pine trees in an Idaho spring. And at about mile 4 I realized why I was running. I’ve had a bad attitude about my kids and their sleep lately. Ford has been waking up randomly, Judah is fighting the nap, everyone seems to be tired all the time, and the thing I love (almost) more than anything in this world is good sleep, and we’re having a baby in less than 36 hours. I know what that means, it means night waking, early mornings, crying, no naps, all kinds of things that for the last few months I’ve been complaining about and wishing would stop. At mile 4 though, I realized how wrong I had it. How could you be angry at your child for waking in the middle of the night? How could you view waking up to rock your child back to sleep as HARD, when there are so many hard things in this world? Tonight I prayed hard, I listened to God, and I didn’t think he was going to answer; I thought this was just a random urge to run, and then he closed the loop for me on “In pain you shall bring forth children”. It’s painful sometimes, waking in the middle of the night, not getting the sleep you desired, the screaming, crying, not cooperating, all of it, and I can’t wait for it, because at mile 4 tonight, I realized no matter how loud the cry, no matter the hour of the night, I’m home, I’m comfortable, with my wife by my side, and that cry is coming from my DNA, from a child I created, and by the grace of God I’ve been trusted to raise it well, so that’s what I’m going to do. I won’t be perfect, but when it’s tough, I’ll think about this run, because the miles tonight were hard, and at the end of the day, I was willing to do them even though they meant nothing, but my job as Dad means everything, so how much more willing I will be.

When suffering entered the world:

Genesis 3:14-19

“The Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.’ To the woman he said, I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.’ and to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it’, cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”