It takes exactly ten days to forget the pain of childbirth. At least for me.
Even after my pre-occupation with profit and loss, and my balancing act with balance sheets, with a resulting depreciation of my patience lately — he has a soft answer! It reminds me of how sweet and supportive he has always been to me through all my labors!!
She is creating a man. A man, who will someday woo a girl, and she will lovingly come into his arms, and start the cycle over again, as she is stretched to her limits!
When God said that the woman would experience ‘stretching out’, it was not only metaphorical, as in the stretching of our limits, and the need to reach out, grasp and hold onto our husband, but a literal and painful physical stretching out.
This Hebrew word teshuwqah, stretching out after, means a strong craving, desire, longing that consumes one, and it is an accurate description of the force of love and desire between a man and a woman.
In exchange for the pain you endure, as you struggle to give that baby a chance to breathe and live, comes a sense of pride and accomplishment, knowing that you have earned the right to be the mother of that child. Just like I have earned the right to be the mother of my children, I also fought and labored and endured great pain to win success in my marriage.
Now, work and marriage seem to go hand in hand. Now, there is painful toil, misunderstanding, hurt, confusion, and yet the woman’s desire shall be for her husband, who ultimately is the source of harsh, painful toil, a seemingly vicious cycle.