Cinderella-vs-Eve

by Christina Weigand
(Puyallup Washington USA)

There are times in my life when I have been both of these women and not in the traditional sense in which we think of them. The sense in which I think of them, Eve was the woman who had it all and after Satan tempted her, she gave into it and lost it all. Cinderella on the other hand started with next to nothing and gained it all when she married Prince Charming.

Thirty years ago I married my prince and ever since then I have bounced between Cinderella and Eve. Most of the time I realize how lucky I have been to marry the man who is my husband. Then there are times when I am tempted by life and I come close to losing it all.

Of late with all our life changes I have been in an Eve place. Moving across the country, away from our families has left me feeling very needy and selfish. I only consider my needs and see his needs as selfish. When he wants something I either do it grudgingly or find an excuse not to do it. In doing this I push him away and contribute to his stress levels. I become resentful because of his response. Satan has insinuated himself into my married soul. Like Eve, I embrace his deceptions and continue down the path of sin. God calls me and I try to reach Him, but I am to firmly entrenched in my current ways. I need a strong reminder of the love that God has to offer.

So with all of this, you may be thinking that Cinderella sounds better, but that’s not completely so. With Cinderella we run the risk of becoming complacent and taking for granted what we have. That was another phase of my life. I had raised three children, we had a house we loved and my husband had a job that he had been at all of our married life. We thought we had it made, life was good and we saw no reason to change it. The next seven years proved that God had other plans. He gave us the gift of two unplanned pregnancies, one for me and one for my daughter. Then when we ran the risk of becoming complacent again, God shook the snow-globe. My husband had to find a new job and we moved to Washington State from our lifelong home in Pennsylvania. We had to start our life all over again.

So we run on life’s wheel like a hamster on his exercise wheel, never seeming to get anywhere. Hopefully as humans, as husband and wife we find a better way. We stop and listen to God and follow His lead. We look for forgiveness and we forgive. We try not to repeat our mistakes and when we do repeat, we stop, take an accounting and pray. God will show us the way to avoid the Eve and Cinderella phases. Leave Eve to the pages of the Bible and Cinderella to the fairy tales. Let us put our marriages in God’s hands where they truly belong.