I Blame Eve , livre ebook

© 2012 by Susanna Foth Aughtmon
Published by Revell
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.revellbooks.com
Ebook edition created 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means for example, electronic, photocopy, recording without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
ISBN 978-1-4412-3607-4
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright © 1996 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The internet addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers in this book are accurate at the time of publication. They are provided as a resource. Baker Publishing Group does not endorse them or vouch for their content or permanence.
Published in association with the literary agency Books & Such, 52 Mission Circle #122 PMB 170, Santa Rosa, California 95409.
“Incredibly quick-witted while challenging. It meets you right where you are and immediately inspires you to grow from there. Susanna’s humor and realness connect you with her in such a way that you feel like you’ve made a true friend. I believe that’s a gift, and she most certainly has it.”
Tiffany Arbuckle Lee , aka Plumb, songwriter and Curb Records recording artist
“With beautiful writing, humor, and depth of insight, Susanna Foth Aughtmon unpacks one of the most important stories in the Bible and reveals truth every woman needs to hear. No more listening to lying snakes for me!”
Joanna Weaver , bestselling author, Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World
For Dick and Ruth Foth,
whose good, strong love helped me grow up and gave me wings to fly.
Dad and Mom,
your love for Jesus and each other has shaped me irrevocably.
I want to grow up to be like you.
I love you the most.
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Endorsements
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Adam and Eve’s Story
Introduction: I Want a Perfect Life
1. I Wish Eve Hadn’t Eaten the Apple
2. I Would Listen to a Talking Snake
3. I Think God Is Holding Out on Me
4. I Crave Apples and Other Things That Don’t Satisfy Me
5. I Think I Need Some Fig Leaves to Cover Up My Shame
6. I Want to Hide from God
7. I Would Rather Not Take Responsibility for My Actions
8. I Have at Least One Enemy
9. I Feel Really Sad That There Is Pain in Childbirth
10. I Have the Eden Gene
11. I Am Exactly like Eve
12. I Am a Perfectionist
13. I Get Discouraged
14. I Have Control Issues . . . Big Ones
15. I Don’t Like Waiting
16. I Can Get a Little Bitter
17. I Am a Little Self-Centered
18. I Am a Rule Follower
19. I Am a Wreck
20. I Am in Denial
21. I Need a New Idea of What Perfect Looks Like
22. I Am Not in Control
23. I Need a Paradigm Shift
24. I Am Ready for a New Out-of-Control Me
Conclusion: The New Perfect
Study Guide
Contacting Susanna Aughtmon
Also by Susanna Foth Aughtmon
Back Cover
Acknowledgments
G B. Stern said, “Silent gratitude isn’t much use to anyone.” And that is the truth. I have so many people to be thankful for, and I am choosing not to be silent about it. So a huge amount of thanks goes out to . . .
Scott. You are my favorite person. Thank you for loving me so well and always encouraging me, for taking care of the boys so well and always making me laugh . . . even when I have a deadline.
Jack, Will, and Addison. Thanks for all your hugs and kisses, even though I was writing so much. I love who you are. It is my great joy to be your mom.
Mom and Dad. Thanks for lighting a candle and praying for me as I wrote. And for eating celebratory chocolate chips with me when I finally finished. You are the best.
Dave and Lola. Thanks for your constant support and for cheering me on every time I call you. (Yeah, Sue!) You are the best in-laws ever. (Yeah, Dave! Yeah, Lola!)
Erica and Jenny. Thanks for listening to my chapters over the phone and laughing at all the right parts. And for celebrating the fun stuff with me. Whether it is a birthday or another chapter finished or a shopping trip, you make everything fun. I love being with you.
Chris. I’m proud to be your sister. Writing about catching snakes with you at the house on Glen Canyon brought back good memories. About you . . . not the snakes.
The Foth, Moody, Clements, and Bondonno clans. I am so thankful for you and your encouragement. I’m so glad you are my family. Clearly, I lucked out!
My teenage nieces and nephew, Aly, Claire, Robert, and Katherine. Know that it was for you that I wrote “holla” in this book, mostly because I wanted to see your look of horror at your aunt pretending to be hip. Know that I think you are beyond hip and I love you.
Beth Alyse Alyse and Gretchen. Our day in Burlingame was a highlight for me. I could not ask for better cousins. Thank you for your constant love and encouragement.
Jenn. Thanks for being my bff and partner in crime. Does teaching count as crime? I’m so thankful for you. Someday soon we’ll do the running man again. I promise.
Marty. Thanks for always being real and sharing your chocolate and letting me tell some of your story. I’m so thankful for your friendship.
Paula. Thank you, dear friend, for your friendship, for the many meals made for our family, and for subbing for me so I could write. You will get an extra jewel in your crown for sure.
Pathway Church. Thanks for being a part of this writing journey. I will try to be a less awkward worship leader in the future. But thanks for loving me as I am.
Tapestry Church and Kiddie Garden Preschool. You are a blessing to me. I’m so thankful for you.
Janelle Mahlmann. Thanks for your hard work and for always laughing with me on the phone. I love working with you.
Vicki Crumpton. To get to work with you again is such fun. I am thankful to you for your giftedness and excitement about this book. I love that I get to share this writing journey with you.
Wendy Lawton. I think you are the best in the land. I love that we are on the same team. I am continually thankful that God brought you into my life.
I would be remiss not to thank Eve. Without her there would be no book.
And finally, thanks goes to Jesus, for letting me write, of course, but most of all for saving me from my controlling, perfectionist ways and shaping my life with his grace and freedom.
Adam and Eve’s Story
T his is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth.
When the L ord God made the heavens and the earth, there were no plants or grain growing on the earth, for the L ord God had not sent any rain. And no one was there to cultivate the soil. But water came up out of the ground and watered all the land. And the L ord God formed a man’s body from the dust of the ground and breathed into it the breath of life. And the man became a living person.
Then the L ord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he placed the man he had created. And the L ord God planted all sorts of trees in the garden beautiful trees that produced delicious fruit. At the center of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
A river flowed from the land of Eden, watering the garden and then dividing into four branches. One of these branches is the Pishon, which flows around the entire land of Havilah, where gold is found. The gold of that land is exceptionally pure; aromatic resin and onyx stone are also found there. The second branch is the Gihon, which flows around the entire land of Cush. The third branch is the Tigris, which flows to the east of Asshur. The fourth branch is the Euphrates.
The L ord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and care for it. But the L ord God gave him this warning: “You may freely eat any fruit in the garden except fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat of its fruit, you will surely die.”
And the L ord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion who will help him.” So the L ord God formed from the soil every kind of animal and bird. He brought them to Adam to see what he would call them, and Adam chose a name for each one. He gave names to all the livestock, birds, and wild animals. But still there was no companion suitable for him. So the L ord God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep. He took one of Adam’s ribs and closed up the place from which he had taken it. Then the L ord God made a woman from the rib and brought her to Adam.
“At last!” Adam exclaimed. “She is part of my own flesh and bone! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken out of a man.” This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. Now, although Adam and his wife were both naked, neither of them felt any shame.
Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the creatures the L ord God had made. “Really?” he asked the woman. “Did God really say that you must not eat any of the fruit in the garden?”
“Of course we may eat it,” the woman told him. “It’s only the fruit from the tree at the center of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God says we must not eat it or even touch it, or we will die.”
“You won’t die!” the serpent hissed. “God knows that your eyes will be opened when you eat it. You will become just like God, knowing everything, both good and evil.”
The woman was convinced. The fruit looked so fresh and delicious, and it would make her so wise! So she ate some of the fruit. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her. Then he ate it, too. At that moment, their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they strung fig leaves together around their hips