a double whammy for women?

I had an arresting thought the other day! There at the First Watch restaurant, during a lovely mid-morning brunch with a friend, in the midst of a conversation about the struggles we face in our jobs, something dawned on me that I had never thought of before...or heard from anyone (unless it was, at the time, a "senior moment").   Pouring out from my lips came this truth:

You know, Linda.  It just dawned on me that we working women are laboring under both curses:  the one for Adam as well as the one for Eve!

In case you have forgotten, the curse on Eve, because of her choice of independence from God instead of dependence, was:

I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you. Genesis 3:16 NLT

For those of us who have given birth, we know that pain well.  And the curse carries further into the "birthing" and "nurturing" of relationships.  Our relationships are so important to us women and, therefore, the cause of most of our pain in life.  And need I say anything about the interesting "tugs of war" we experience in our marriages?  At times, I've thought of my husband as my "Beloved Adversary," to be perfectly honest.

But as if that weren't enough, it seems that we've taken on Adam's curse as well:

...the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return. Genesis 3:17-19 NLT

So as we go out into the workplace, things don't come easily as we try to "scratch out a living" (or help our husbands to do so).  There are problems in the job itself, not enough money, "irregular people" and the list goes on.

So how do we handle it all?  How did the Proverbs 31 woman bear up under the load?  (It seems even she was out in the workplace at times in her life).  I don't have any new, amazing insights except what is true about all of life no matter what the situation:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Proverbs 3: 5-6 NLT

...a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised. Proverbs 30:30 NLT

Any thoughts?