I guess that most of us reading this blog are familiar with the story of Adam and Eve. Specifically I am referring to the moment in their lives when they were disobedient to God and ate the fruit. Remember that time they talked to a snake? There’s a small lesson for us in that experience – Don’t talk to or trust snakes. But there’s more to it of course.

Most of the time I hear Adam getting slammed for not taking the leadership role in that instance. He just let Eve eat her way into sin. What a slacker! But nothing in the text necessarily indicates Adam was lax. In fact, I wonder if something else occurred inside Adam. I wonder if the self-sacrificial love that he, the perfect husband, had for Eve compelled him to take the fall with her. I wonder if he looked up to see Eve eat from the tree & in that instance, realized that he had just lost his wife. I wonder if he came to a crossroads and had to choose to either fall with Eve or watch her walk away from the Garden of Eden forever. Perhaps he ate the fruit, not out of selfish rebellion against God, but out of deep compassion for his wife. Perhaps he could not stand to see her suffer alone so out of a genuine, God-shaped, sacrificial love for Eve, Adam ate the fruit and then did his best to cover themselves from God and from each other.

All of this is conjecture so none of it is necessarily true. But I would not be surprised one day in heaven to come across Adam and to hear him say, “Well, I just could not let her go. I could not save her, but neither could I forget her so I ate the fruit.” I guess some of us would suggest the sin of idolatry. More than once has a woman taken the place of God in a man’s life. But I don’t think Adam had become idolatrous in this instant. I think he just loved this beautiful woman dearly. They had become one and now part of him died when she ate the fruit. I’ve heard it said before that men don’t wonder if their wives will always stand with them, but women wonder if their men will stand with them. Apparently, Adam did.

For my family, 2006 has been a tremendous learning time. It has been challenging, exhausting, encouraging, and “hair pulling” all at the same time. (I am talking about pulling my own hair, not someone else’s) We are grateful to see the calendar change because of the new opportunities of discovery that await us on the horizon. But as we look back on 2006, one thing is certain – it has been a faith-building year. We have learned to trust God at a deeper and more significant level.

The following analogy from Eugene Peterson (The Unnecessary Pastor) is something that helps me understand the “hair pulling” seasons in life.
My two sons are both rock climbers, and I have listened to them plan their ascents. They spend as much or more time planning their climbs as in the actual climbing. They meticulously plot their route and then, as they climb, put in what they call "protection"—pitons hammered into small crevices in the rock face, with attached ropes that will arrest a quick descent to death. Rock climbers who fail to put in protection have short climbing careers.
Our pitons or "protection" come as we remember and hold on to those times when we have experienced God's faithfulness in our lives. Every answered prayer, every victory, every storm that has been calmed by his presence is a piton which keeps us from falling, losing hope, or worse yet, losing our faith. Every piton in our life is an example of God's faithfulness to us…. As we ascend in the kingdom of God, we also realize that each experience, each victory is only a piton—a stepping stone toward our ultimate goal of finishing the race and receiving the crown of glory.

2006 seems to have been filled with pitons. The past five years seem to contain a lifetime of them. Each piton is an experience where God prepares us for a deeper & more significant life than the life we had before the faith shaking moment. So we feel prepared, at least for this moment.

I add that last phrase, “at least for this moment” because so much more lies ahead of us. This life of faith is a journey down a road that has dangerous curves, long hills, and monotonous straight ways. While it leaves you breathless because of the dangers it includes, it also leaves you speechless because of the beautiful sights it reveals. My prayer for 2007? “Yes Lord, we are hanging on.”