Retired. Happily, there is no age limit on being a strong helper. A birth certificate commemorates the entrance of a strong helper into the world, and every woman's funeral reminds us of her ongoing legacy. A woman is a strong helper from birth to death, no matter what her circumstance or station in life, and she will be a strong power in God's kingdom until her final breath and beyond.

After hearing a sermon on the ezer, one eighty-plus-year-old woman replied, "Thank you. You helped me to realize I am still worth something." Our calling is not determined by our physical strength or our frailty, but by our Creator.

Any other ideas about Eve's secondary status come from the tragedy that unfolded when sin entered the world. As God grieved at the consequences that would come, he made a sad prediction. Adam would rule over Eve. Eve would have pain when bearing children. (Can I hear an amen?) And Adam and Eve would deal with toil and difficulty in their daily work.

These were tough consequences, for sure. But just as Christ came to restore and redeem us (2 Corinthians 5:17), he also came to put our relationships with him and with others right again. God never gave up on his original dream. And neither should we.

Taken from Reclaiming Eveby Suzanne Burden, Carla Sunberg, and Jamie Wright, © 2014 by Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, Kansas City, MO. Used and reprinted by permission of pub-lisher. All rights reserved. Visit our website at BeaconHillBooks.com to purchase this title.