pdf of Issacharian Daughters – ID047 – click on link below for correct layout and photos
Monday, 16 July 2007
Dear Girls,
I am an EveHere is a poem inspired by Genesis 2v18 and written by Issacharian Daughter Emma McGeorge on 31 March 2007.
I am an Eve
~Genesis 2:18~
College looms on my horizon;
??Which career? ?? My daily plight.
Money, hours, and location
Beckon me on left and right.
Options flash before me, constant??
And still more come pouring in!
Everyone has an opinion,
Causing brain to whirlwind-spin.
Dizzily, I try to focus??
Too much racket! Too much din!
Finally, a peaceful moment,
And a chance to look within.
But, what is this? Bold rebellion?
For, inside my heart, I find,
??None of these are what I’m seeking. ??
Such words flashing through my mind!
??Don’t be silly?? it’s the norm, Girl!
First to Uni, then the works. ??
Then, for what is my heart longing?
What desire, hidden, lurks?
What is it for which I’m searching?
What, upon my heart, is laid?
This, my question?? my soul-searching??
For what purpose was I made?
Is there more to being a lady
Than just filling empty space?
(For my sake, I hope it isn’t
Just to charm with poise and grace!)
Seems like men were made for missions;
So then, what are women for?
Decoration?
??Nay! ?? my Lord says,
??I made you for so much more . . .
??I created you, and named you
Woman ??for you came from Man.
I created you to help him
Carry out my special plan.
??It is not good ??nor My purpose ??
Lone man, My will, to achieve.
Thus, I made from Man, a Woman.
Adam’s helpmeet ??Adam’s Eve.
??You, My Daughter, are a gift;
A woman one man will receive.
You will daily love and cherish
As his helpmeet ??As his Eve. ??
Dreams, desires, and destiny,
Now one; for I believe,
God’s true call for me ??a woman ??
Is a helpmeet ??Is an Eve.
Now go and read the poem again!
There are some great themes coming through in this piece of poetry: the pressure to attend university and pursue a career, the yearning of our hearts for so much more, the searching for an answer to the age old question,??What is my purpose? ?? and the finding of the answer ??we have been created as Eve, to be helpers!
Now look at some of the more subtle themes in this work:
life is crazy, but when we take time to practice the spiritual disciplines (in this case the spiritual disciplines of silence and solitude,??Finally a peaceful moment and a chance to look within ??) we can discover the truth.
the biggest barrier to doing what is right is often ourselves,??Don’t be silly?? it’s the norm, Girl! First to Uni, then the works. ??
? the temptation to slide into thinking that women are made for decoration.??So then, what are women for? Decoration???Nay!’ my Lord says,??I made you for so much more ??’ ?? Sometimes we mistakenly think that the men are the ones to wage war in the battle and women are simply to keep a safe haven or retreat for the men to come back to.1 When we women feel that we are disconnected from the battle like that we can tend to devote ourselves to??decoration ?? pastimes such as calligraphy, cake decorating and the study of Jane Austen. Now these are all worthy things ??don’t get me wrong. I once dabbled in calligraphy. My sister is an expert cake decorator and Jane Austen is one of my favourite authors. There is a place for these in our lives. But we need to beware of settling into a??we-are-here-merely-for-decoration ?? mindset. Some would restrict the role of women to beautifying the home (a good and right thing). But our role is so much larger. We should not feel disconnected from the battle. Our role is to help our husbands and fathers in the battle. This brings to mind something my friend, Elizabeth Botkin calls??Dominion Oriented Femininity. ?? This sort of femininity, while seeking to bring beauty, is also vastly practical. It might reveal itself in the ability to back a trailer, prepare a chicken from scratch (which would include, gulp, yes…the execution), build a house, fix an appliance, change a blown fuse, sew curtains, paint, wallpaper and sand, write a business letter and anything else practical which would be a help to our fathers/husbands. Yet this sort of femininity while being more sturdy and useful than merely decorative does not seek to compete with masculinity, but rather to complement it. Elizabeth and her sister Anna Sofia Botkin spoke on the subject of dominion oriented femininity at the recent Vision Forum Father/Daughter Retreat. They have given me permission to reprint parts of their speech in the next Issacharian Daughters newsletter.
There is much for us to consider in the idea that we were created to be helpmeets. And there is much for us to consider in how we can be of help. Shortly after I first had it suggested to me that learning how to back a trailer would be a good practical skill to have, I had the opportunity to give it a go. A friend asked me to help her transport her rabbit hutch in a trailer attached to our van. At one point I needed to back up in order to leave a driveway. As I proceeded, I had a little bit of difficulty. My 14-year-old brother laughed at the dilemma I was getting myself into and to help actually lifted up and moved the trailer so that now I was free to drive straight ahead and out of the driveway! So that is a skill I am yet to attain! Lord willing I may. In the meantime I can, as we all can, look for ways to really help our fathers and husbands in the battle which wages around us.
For the Greater Glory of God through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
Genevieve Smith
Issacharian Daughter
Notes: 1. As helpers, this means we have an important role in the battle…beside our fathers’/husbands’ side. And our homes, while we can rightly view them as havens and places of rest can also be seen as centres for dominion, training grounds for little warriors, battlegrounds for some of the major skirmishes and as a stronghold against the enemy. In my family, the home has never so much been a place of retreat as it has been a place from which we engage the enemy and a base from which we participate in the battle.
Emma McGeorgeis fast approaching 21 and has two younger sisters, Tessa (18) and Shanna (10), and a younger brother, Joel (14). Her dad is Scottish, her mom Italian, and she was born in South Africa! The McGeorge family moved to New Zealand 13 years ago and lived in Wellington and Wanganui before moving to Waiau Pa where they currently live in the North Island of New Zealand.
Emma’s parents began home-schooling her and her sister Tessa six months after they moved to New Zealand. They joined the ACE programme when Emma was 12, and began attending the New Zealand Regional ACE Student Conventions the following year. These conventions were life-changing for Emma. Through the Student Convention she discovered God-given talents, developed them and learnt how to use them in ministry (which she has done at conventions in New Zealand, Australia and the USA). Emma loves reading, writing (short stories and poems), music (especially singing) and spending time with God and with her family.