Our dear girl, our seventh wonder. Life, a miracle each time it happens. Every part of this child, wonderfully made and given to us by a Good Heavenly Father. We thank Him.
Archive for the ‘Fertility in a Fallen World Series’ Category
How to View Children: Audio lecture
Sunday, November 16th, 2014
There are good ways and bad ways at going about sharing your views on child prevention aka birth control. I’ve addressed it a bit on this blog, but I don’t do that much because I believe it’s an issue better left in the hands of theologians and the Holy Spirit. Obvious to most of you is the fact that Phil and I do not use any forms of child prevention, I did write on that here, but when it comes to discussing it with others, this topic is an emotional land-mine I pretty much avoid.
My series on Fertility in a Fallen World was started as a way to gently open discussion on the issue and as a way to encourage all women who have deeply struggled with procreation. As anyone who is married knows, we must all make some hard decisions about procreation, there’s no way around it.
So with that said, I wanted to share a paper with you all that Phil wrote on the issue titled: “The Logic, Ideology, and Ascendancy of Child Prevention.” He presented this paper at the Nebraska Lutheran Confession Series at Good Shepherd, Lincoln this past Thursday.
It deals with Margret Sanger and her program of family planning and how her influence has changed how Americans talk and think about children. And how Christians are called to view children.
Here is the edited audio:
Here is the same, with a download link to the mp3:
The full paper is here if you’d prefer to read it while you listen which is what the original audience did:
Fertility in a Fallen World: Leigh’s Story
Friday, August 15th, 2014
I asked if anyone would be willing to discuss a topic that isn’t easy and share the story of their fertility journey. I have had a very good response from many of you and I’m honored to finally begin presenting some of the stories that have graciously been provided by some wonderful women.
In this series women with different experiences will share the pain and blessings that the gift of fertility carries with it, in the hope of bringing out God’s grace and promise to those couples struggling to welcome this gift when it is not known how it will turn out in a sinful world.
Whether the result be a healthy child, a child who goes almost immediately to be with Christ, or there is no gift of life, all women of child-bearing age wrestle with this cross and the unforeseen works of God that are to come.
While we might envy God’s work in another woman or couple, Christ alone designs the cross appropriately for each. To desire to please God in this sinful world will entail suffering. But there is comfort in knowing we are not alone. There is value in hearing each other stories, that while our paths are different, it is still a struggle of faith, which all God’s children share.
And it is a great comfort to know that God’s love is not found in how many children we are given or have taken from us, but in the saving sacrifice of Christ on the cross and in His glorious resurrection.
This is Leigh’s story.
My mother said she loved children. She wanted lots of them. But she had only two for reasons due to her own depression and anxiety she suffered. She was sure she couldn’t “handle” more than two. She had a boy and a girl, so I guess that was the perfect time to stop. I don’t remember ever talking about children and how many a couple “should have.” I only recently learned that she originally wanted several. My mom’s two sisters each had two children. On my dad’s side, his sister had two and his brother had five. To me, at that time, that was large family.
I never thought about how many children I wanted to have, only that I wanted to have them. I remember watching my mother’s reaction to a friend at church one Sunday when she confided in my mom that she was pregnant. I baby sat for this family and was thrilled that she was expecting number three. My mother gave no congratulations, though, only sympathy. I was confused by that but did not ask for an explanation. My guess is that there were financial strains on the family. My mother also gave a deflated, “Oh no” to me when I called her with the news of baby number three years ago. I was shocked by that. She was thinking of the financial strain on the family and the emotional strain on me, I can only assume. I had a new life growing inside of me! Her grandchild, even! I expected excitement; words of congratulations, not sympathy.
Fertility In A Fallen World: My Story Continues
Thursday, August 7th, 2014
Trusting God with procreation comes at a very high cost. I’ve grilled myself on this subject for hours, days, years asking some hard questions.
I sit down with all of your stories, I stand in a room or on the curb in the cold night with some of you ladies and I listen to your words. I see your tears, I hear the fear and regret in your voices and I’m still left with a whole lot of hard questions.
That high cost is different for all of us. The stories you all have shared with me have shown me so many sides of the struggle with this issue.
For all our attempts to control procreation, for all our fears of having too many babies or none to ever hold at all, I’m learning that we know nothing. We are nothing.
Procreation is God’s business. He has given us a very small part.
