AlphaMan

                    "The LORD God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. And the LORD God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.' Then the LORD God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone.  I will make a helper who is like him.' So the LORD formed out of the ground each wild animal and each bird of the sky, and brought each to the man to see what he would call it.  And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.  The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds fo the sky, and to every wild animal, but for the man, no helper was found who was like him.  So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to some over the man, and he slept.  God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place.  Then the LORD God made the rib He had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man.  

And the man said:

                    'This one, at last, is bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh; this one will be called woman, for she was taken from man.'" (Genesis 2:15-23)

God created man first.  He gave him specific jobs and responsibilities.  God had a plan for Adam.  God designed him with a purpose.  Then God in his perfection and sovereign timing knew Adam needed Eve.  God designed Eve like Adam, but different.  God had a plan for Eve in her creation and God designed her with a purpose.  

In today's society, different is often praised.  At other times, it is vehemently challenged.  

When God created Adam and Eve, he created them uniquely.  Who am I to challenge God's creation and who I am to challenge if it is good?  The I AM created.  Am I going to challenge the design of his birds or question his blueprint for fish?  Am I going to object to the sun and how it rises and falls?  Am I going to offer a different purpose for the moon?  Who am I to speak on such things?  Who am I to question the order and purpose of God's creation?

I love that Eve was drawn from man.  I love that God looked at His creation and knew He needed one more being to reflect His image.  I love that God designed us to stand next to man.  I love that God knew Adam wasn't good until He fashioned Eve.  We came second.  We were created to be different, but to be the exclamation to his Creation Masterpiece.  God put the cherry on top with woman.

Marriage has presented many bumps along the road, but I can say with thankfulness, the roles Brian and I serve as man and woman, husband and wife have been clear and unified from the wedding altar.  I have never seen him as someone I compete with for power, control, or purpose.  I don't envy the leadership role God gave him or try to intervene or usurp that role.  I bask in my role as his helpmate-to come alongside of him, bolster him, complete him, and lay him before the throne of God in prayer is mighty.  My role isn't silent or second best.  I am not ignored or factored out because of my role as a helpmate.  I am the antidote to his "not good for man to be alone."  I am undone by the beauty in my role.  I complete the image of God and I complete my husband.  Bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, I am to be called WHOA-man, because I was taken out of man.  

Several weeks ago, the 7 of us, made our way out to the Grand Canyon.  God's canvas.  One of his masterpieces.  We hiked 3 miles down, watching the colors of the dirt change beneath our feet as we made our way deeper into the canyon.  It was incredible.  The colors, the grandeur, the height, and depths-all so majestic.  About 200 feet from where we were going to stop to eat lunch, Gwenyth fell while jumping from rock to rock (not the safest thing to be doing in a deep canyon ledge, but-sweet adventurous Gwenyth). She barely cleared the second rock and hyperextended her ankle.  My toughest kiddo, couldn't walk.  At one point during lunch, she couldn't even get her shoe back on.  Grace, mercy, strength, and forgiveness on display.  In the middle of the God's canyon-his image-bearers, bearing image.  I softened my husband to the idea, she couldn't walk further down, and she couldn't walk any further up.  Without a moment to spare, he put her on his back and he carried her back up the path with the ever-changing colorful layers of dirt.  One footprint at a time, he carried the sweetest load on his back.  His child, weak and in a moment of less than, his purpose was clear.  I stayed a few steps ahead encouraging him on here and there.  One has to be careful to not overdo it in a moment of gravity-like this one.  On his back for 3 miles, she felt her daddy's love, her daddy's strength, and her daddy's relentless care for her.  She was going to get back up to the starting line.  He was going to see this journey through until it was good.  

 

 I know the term Alpha Male can divide a room.  When God created Adam the bible tells us, Adam was there to work and watch over the earth.  He was given leadership, but there was no one like him to help him.  God took from Adam to create Eve, and Adam saw her and named her, similar to his name :).  God didn't pull from Adam's head, so Adam could Lord over Eve with his wisdom.  Nor did God take from Adam's feet, so he could walk over her.  God drew from Adam's side, more specifically, his rib.  Ribs are bones that protect our lungs.  Our ribs help us to breathe, they are life-sustainers. Ribs also protect our hearts.  God took his own breath and breathed life into Adam, and then formed our life from the one place that helps keeps Adam's life safe and protected, keep him alive-his ribs.  My common sense, Christian brain, begs the question, how can the intention of the creation of the Creator offend?  

I am reminded of Job and his conversations with God.  Job 38 and 39 are raw and humbling.  God unfolds his Sovereignty, question after question.  38:4-5  "Where were you when I established the earth?  Who fixed its dimensions?  Certainly, you know?  Who stretched a measuring line across it?"  38:12  "Have you ever in your life commanded the morning or assigned dawn its place...?"  38:33. "Do you know the laws of heaven?  Can you impose its authority on earth?  38:36 "Who put wisdom in the heart or gave the mind understanding?"   38:34-35, "Can you command the clouds so that a flood of water covers you?  Can you send out lightning bolts, and they go. Do they report to you: 'Here we are?" 39:26-27  "Does the hawk take flight by your understanding and spread its wings to the south? Does the eagle soar at your command and make its nest on high?"  

At one point God tells Job, "Everything under heaven belongs to me." 

Who am I to question God,?  Who am I to meddle with the very creations fashioned from his fingertips. The God of the universe created man and woman..."And God created humankind in his own image. In God's image he created him; male and female he created them." (Genesis 1:27)

So I am married to an unapologetic handsome AlphaMan, who is the most wonderful AlphaDad.  He isn't perfect and neither is his helpmate, but together and as individuals, we bear the image of our loving Creator King.  The same hands that formed the dust from the paths of the Grand Canyon, breathed life into us and His works are ordered, wonderful, and with perfect intention.  Image bearers each in our own unique way, reflecting the glory of God.  Different, but equally Yahweh's.

In the days, set out before us LORD, I ask for you to bestow your Shekinah glory.  

You are El Roi- The God who sees, in a world where it is so each to feel invisible, you not only see us, your children, but you gaze upon us.  

Christians, buckle your seatbelts because God is clear and he doesn't make mistakes.