#114 - Eve, the Fruit, and the Lone and Dreary World

On this episode I share the story of Eve (from Adam and Eve), emphasizing Eve's courageous choice to follow her calling by leaving the Garden of Eden and the subsequent challenges she faced in the lone and dreary world. Drawing parallels to modern-day experiences and difficulties people face while pursuing their missions, I encourage listeners to embrace difficulties, trust the journey, and acknowledge that even in challenging times, there is room for growth and positive impact.

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Transcript

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I'm jamielynn Stephan and this is wanting to wanted episode number 114. Eve the fruit at the lone and dreary world. Welcome to want to want it a podcast for women of the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints who are ready to ignite not only their sexual desire, but all of their desires to create a more fulfilling life and marriage. I'm jamielynn Stephan. I'm a certified life coach, a wife, and a mother of seven children. I'm excited to share my personal journey to desire with you and teach you how to desire more as well happy Tuesday, everyone. If you're listening to this on a Tuesday happy day, whatever day it is for you. Welcome to want to want it again. I have to thank all of you who listened. I really am so glad that you listened. I hope it helps. Dear sweet. Rachel, you know who you are. Rachel came up to talk to me about this podcast not long ago, and it was. So kind of her because she didn't have to, but she came up just to thank me and it gave me a lot of encouragement. So thank you, Rachel. And thank you to all of you who listen. I have. Dear friends that always listen. And I know many of you share these episodes and I just thank you so much for that because I want to help as many people as possible. So thank you. If you don't have anyone in particular to share this with, please just take a moment to subscribe to the podcast and then you can rate and review it so that other people can find it easier. And then I can help more people, which is my goal. So today's podcast is not going to be very long because it's just meant to be encouraging, but what I wanted to say, I felt like it was too long for an email. So you're going to get a short podcast instead of a ridiculously long email. I want to talk about Eve as in Adam and Eve, the first woman, our common mother. So here she is, before time began living in the garden of Eden with Adam and the garden of Eden is just this place of perpetual amazingness. At least that's how it sounds right. Everything grows on its own. There's no aging or sickness or death. There's, there's no kids. Not that I don't love my kids, but there's, there's no stress here. But at the some point as Christian tradition shares, Satan comes into the garden of Eden and he's tempting Adam and Eve to partake of the fruit. Now for Adam, he is just going to be obedient. So he is not going to eat the fruit, but Eve. She doesn't want to be disobedient, but for some reason she understands that to reach her full potential and to have the experiences necessary for this she needs to eat the fruit. And this is a super courageous choice that she made because not only would it mean leaving the garden of Eden and giving up this comfortable life there, it was going to impact Adam as well. But she knew what she had to do. And so she ate the fruit. She shared it with Adam and sure enough, she ended up in the lone and dreary world. Now this world, this lone and dreary world, where she ends up is exactly where she was meant to be. It was exactly where God needed her to be. So that we could all come to earth and experiences, existence, and progress to become more like our heavenly parents. But even though it was exactly where she was supposed to be, it was kind of miserable. The fruits and the veggies, they didn't grow on their own anymore. She had to weed her garden a lot. Sometimes it probably didn't rain. She had to have babies out in the wild. It was tough. And I'm sure if you were looking from the outside, you would have said, what have you done? Like, why did you leave that perfectly comfortable garden? This looks terrible. And I wonder if Eve was ever thinking the same thing at times. Why did I eat that fruit? Why did I voluntarily leave that comfortable, easy garden? This is so hard out here. It's not going well out here. My kids are murdering each other. I I'm aging. What was I thinking? But here's what I believe. I believe that she was called to have the courage to bring, to pass the mortality of man. Even though it was considered a fall. It was also a movement forward for all of us. All of us get to have physical bodies and have experiences that make us into better people because of Eve's choice. She had to have the courage to eat the fruit and step into the unknown. Now the reason I'm telling you this is because I recently coached a woman. Who has felt called to do something that she feels actually quite passionate about a way to serve that she really felt called to, but it has proven very difficult. And there's a part of her that wonders why. When she's doing what she felt is her mission. And she knows in this unmistakable ways what she's supposed to be doing, why is it not going well? And she wonders if this is what I'm supposed to be doing, why is it not only impacting me, but impacting my family as well? It has added a layer of complication to her family's life and not in a toxic way, but it is making things uncomfortable for those that she really loves because she's not as available as she once was. She isn't contributing financially exactly the same way as she was before. And honestly, no one is an island. And even from the outside, she feels like what she's doing. Doesn't make sense to an outside observer. She can see others outside of her maybe saying. why did you leave your secure job to do this? Why are you giving this really difficult things so much of your time? But as we talked, I realized that because things aren't going smoothly, she now thinks things aren't going right. In fact, she thinks things are going very wrong and that she's to blame for that. And the story of Eve came so strongly to my mind and I had to share it with her and I want to share it with you. Eve left the garden of Eden because it was necessary for God's plan to work. She had to partake of the fruit, share it with Adam and leave the garden of Eden to allow all of us to gain bodies and gain experience. Our eternal progression depended on her, making the decision to follow her calling. And eat the fruit. But just because she did the right thing, just because she followed the past, you knew she was supposed to take didn't mean that life was all roses now. No. She ended up literally in the lone and dreary world. And nothing was going wrong. Nothing had gone wrong. It wasn't like God was saying, whoops, I sent you to the wrong earth. No. This was the plan. This is where the lessons were, and it's not because earth was only ever terrible for Adam and Eve. There was still rainbows and beautiful sunsets and gorgeous flowers and laughter and. Family and love and just all the amazing things. But it was also full of opposition and that is exactly how it was supposed to be. So as I thought about my client, And I thought about Eve, I realized this is exactly how it goes for women since the Dawn of time. And I think it's exactly how it goes for men as well. But in the context of my client, it was Eve that came to my mind and showed me that this is how it's supposed to go, because this is how it goes all the time. We can feel called to do something and that calling or that mission can feel unmistakable. And we can still find ourselves in the lone and dreary world. But remember if you're there, nothing is going wrong. It's just part of the plan. Maybe you have felt guided to take a big, brave step. And so you do it only to find that life is harder. You have less money. You live in constant discomfort. You feel scared at times you're maybe overwhelmed. Does that mean that the choice you made was wrong? Not necessarily. But that's what we want to tell ourselves, because life is harder. Isn't how I thought it was going to be. It must mean I made the wrong choice. I thought I was supposed to eat the fruit, but I must've been wrong because I thought when I ate the fruit life was going to be awesome all the time, but it's not. There are so many ways we can feel quote unquote called in our lives, men and women. And we just know it in our bones and we go forward in faith. And it's hard. Think about leaving home for the first time or getting married or having to get divorced, right. Knowing I actually have to leave this marriage. Or motherhood. Or starting a business or quitting a job or accepting a new church calling or going back to school. I think about going on a mission, whether you're 19 or 69, it has lone and dreary days. I think about how I was so unmistakably led to coaching and I knew without a doubt. That I was supposed to become a coach and that I was supposed to coach women on their marriages. And their desire and their intimate relationships. And I knew it and I don't have a whole lot of things in my life that hit me like a lightning bolt. But this one really did. So I knew this was the path I was to take. But it has been so hard at times. Especially the part where I build a business from scratch. It was hard from the get-go. It was so uncomfortable. And so many things haven't happened. Like I thought they would, and my business looks nothing. Like I thought it would after five years. And it is just so easy to look at myself all the time and say, you know what? You've got to be doing this wrong. Or like, why did you ever agree to do this? You're not good at this. But as I sat in that coaching session with my client, I realized that I just, as much as her. Needed to think about Eve and the fruit and the loan and very world. Nothing is going wrong because things aren't easy or exactly how I thought they would be. And just like this world we live in there have been so many wonderful things that have come into my life because of this journey. I know so many more amazing women. Some of them are my dearest friends now. And I have had so much fun with them. I've met some amazing men as well. And I have truly had the opportunity to help people, which feels totally surreal and so humbling. But most of all, I have changed. I have grown and progressed and I am not the same person. I was five years ago, which is the point of the loan and very world. It is a place where we are to experience the good and the bad, the joy and the sadness rightward meant to taste the bitter and the sweet. And as we do that, we are changed and we are progressing and we are becoming more of who God intends us to be. So I hope this message hasn't got you totally discouraged. That was not my intent. My intention recording. This is just to say. If you're on a path in your life that feels like it's hard. Like it makes no sense. Like you should never have started this. I want to offer you the possibility that nothing is going wrong and you are exactly where you were meant to be because where you are right now is the place with all the lessons and all the growth and all the possibility for you to make a positive impact on the lives of the people you've been called to help or heal or assist or mentor or serve. It's okay. To feel like your path, your calling, your mission, whatever you want to call. It has brought you to the lone and dreary world. That is a story. As old as time itself. Trust that is exactly where you are meant to be. And also trust that even in this place, sunshines people laugh, flowers grow, and joy can be found here. Good luck, everyone. No regrets. You're exactly where you're meant to be. I promise. Have a great week. Bye. Thanks for listening today. If you like what you hear on the podcast, and you'd like to learn more, feel free to head over to my website. Jamilin Stephan coaching.com or find me on Instagram or Facebook at Jamileh. step in coaching.