Growing Family...Growing in Faith

We're pregnant! There really are no words to describe the elation and excitement of peeing on a stick (or four) and seeing two pink lines appear! It's Whoo Hoo time, God has blessed and sooner than you will be ready for it, another sweet precious life will be in your arms and filling your heart. Life! However, for many like myself who have dared to have more than the average, it's also the time when you have to endure rude comments from people who may be totally ignorant themselves of the fact that their attitude is stemming from a hate of children and life. The culture of death mentality has rooted itself so deeply in American culture. Abortion, euthanasia, and the ideology that it's "irresponsible to have a large family" are all ideas new to the last century, yet they have permeated our society. I''m used to dealing with a clash of worldviews "out there". You expect the assault from unbelievers. What really shocks and saddens me is the friendly fire in the church.

Many churches don't even want to be bothered by children, so we invent program after program to dice up the family and have children in their place and adults in theirs. Often times there is a devaluation of the family unit as well, I personally know of  two couples who choose not to have children in order to devote more time to ministry work. I'm tempted to blame this all on the abortion/birth control mentality that has invaded our churches, and make no mistake dear reader abortion and birth control are two sides of the same coin. Of all the families I know, there is only one that was told to stop having children by a doctor who had a legitimate reason to fear for the life of the wife if she continued to have children. That means that birth control by and large is a "convenience", just like abortion. Yet, like I said, that's not our problem.

Our problem is that we have an over-inflated view of man and a grossly under-inflated view of God. Man at is best is a redeemed sinner and should live his life in obedience to a Sovereign God. A misunderstanding of the greatness of God's Sovereignty and His rightful control over every aspect of our lives is our problem. I don't believe we can completely grasp the concept of the vastness of God's authority, but if we can comprehend just a glimmer of this doctrine it changes everything. There is no part of your life you would attempt to withhold from the Lord, we submit ourselves mind, soul, and BODY. His truths trump our convenience, His commands override our "common sense", and "His will be done to His glory" should be the mantra of the truly born again. In that light I'd like to pose a rebuttal to some of the most common questions I receive as a mother of seven.  and one precious baby bean, bear in mind these are questions from people in the church. I'll spare you the "out there" comments.

Question 1 - Don't you think God expects us to use wisdom? Use the good sense He gave you?

Let's look at this biblically, numerous times we are told in Scripture to seek wisdom, pursue it, and Christ sent the disciples out two by two with the admonition that they were to be "as cunning as serpents and as innocent as doves" in Matthew 10:16. However, nowhere in Scripture do I see  a command to rely on our own wisdom and direction. I see very clear instructions to do otherwise, not trust our hearts (Jeremiah 17:9) and that we are not to lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). So the answer would be, No, I do not think God wants us to live by our own "common sense".

Question 2 - Do you know what causes that?

Yes, as a matter of fact I do, the Lord opens and closes the womb.A cursory read of the First Testament will tell you the stories of Eve, Hannah, and Rachel, all women whose stories bear testament of the fact that it is the rightful place of God alone to open and close the womb.

Question 3 -  Don't you think you could do more with your life and ministry if you weren't so tied down with children?

I call this the pre-resurrection Peter/Or get thee behind me Satan argument. Peter takes a lot of flack for having a big mouth, but the man had passion, his problem was that he had already concocted a plan in his own mind for Jesus' life on earth, and without the Holy Spirit he just couldn't handle the detours. Yet again,  if we believe in the Sovereignty of God and the perfectness of His will, we don't need to manage the situation for Him. How ridiculous a prayer would this be, "oh Lord I will always serve you, it's good that I'm here to worship you, I would die for you Lord-even if all other forsake you,  but don't you think it would be better if it all played out the way I have pre-conceived in my mind?" We may not dare to pray like that, but many, many, many people live like that. My answer would be this, I believe God has a plan for my life, and He does a much better job than I would with the controls. We must also bear in mind that our feminist culture has twisted the way our society views motherhood. The idea of 20-30 years of motherhood doesn't seem as precious to us and it should, yet that is the primary ministry of a daughter of God.

Question 4 - What about your health?

Usually this is the last question I am asked, perhaps I should be offended at the lack of concern. Frankly, I think this falls into the "lean not on your own understanding" passage mentioned in earlier. Also, as I said earlier, I  know of only one woman who was told absolutely not to have another child and she chose not too, that's a rarity. Only a small percentage of couples have sought out the medical advice of "a multitude of counselors" and were told that to honor the life of the woman she shouldn't have another child. For the vast majority of women, pregnancy is not a life threatening situation, and in actuality there is a growing body of research emerging that shows the hormones of pregnancy and nursing can lower a woman risk of many cancers and other ailments. Our bodies were designed to birth and nurture children, and I believe God gives us strength and grace to do His will and work. For women of God we understand the largest portion of that work during our childbearing years is the nurture and care of children.

Lastly, we have to remember we see things through the cultural filter in which we live, and rarely does this view of life serve us well. When our opinions run contradictory to the Word of God we must change. God's word is clear that children are a heritage and blessing from Him. To argue against the Word of God in favor of our opinions or ideas is pride, and a prime example of having an over-inflated view of ourselves and an under-inflated view of a Sovereign God. And that dear reader is our problem, in not just this area, but many areas afflicting the church.