So why is it that we joke so much about having or not having children?
Everywhere I turn, I am discouraged from trusting God and having more children. I feel for the many women that just started on this path and have to face the daily persecution of trusting God. Everywhere we turn, pregnancy is made a joke and looked down on.
When I read the Bible, all I hear is encouragement to continue trusting God. I read of people pleading for more children and celebrating life. God’s favor is poured out by multiplying families.
So where did we go wrong? Why is life no longer celebrated? Why is life now limited when it was once begged for?
I think the first place we need to start is in our words. Are we encouraging people to value life? Are we making inappropriate jokes about someone else’s new pregnancy or telling them it is time to stop?
The first step to valuing life is watching what we joke about.
Genesis 17:1-6
“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.”
At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him, “This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them!”
Deuteronomy 1:10,11
“The Lord your God has increased your population, making you as numerous as the stars! And may the Lord, the God of your ancestors, multiply you a thousand times more and bless you as he promised!”
I myself am a mother to three children. Because I had uncomfortable if not difficult pregnancies, and a second child who was extremely trying for the first four years of her life (colicky, never slept, developmentally delayed), I did not plan on having a third. I was not against having more children, but I was against going through pregnancy again. However, God had other plans, and my third and last child was born when my second child was four. I was still working through her developmental delays, but her long “difficult” period was soon to be over.
I did not PLAN to have my third child, but oh! How I shudder to imagine life without him. He is the apple of my eye, and brings SO much joy to every member of our family every single day. He is truly a gift from God that I didn’t know I needed. But God is good, and God knew, and God has a purpose for Jonah Rapson.
So when Karissa Collins said this:
“But I have never met a family that said they wished they never had their last child. Every single child has been a blessing. Every parent says that they can’t imagine life without every single child,”
it resonated with me deeply. I too have never met a family who regrets their “surprise” baby. Or their planned one!
I know we should not be offended by every light-hearted joke, but I think telling a mother of seven to “put an aspirin between her legs” is taking things a LITTLE too far, don’t you? The bottom line is, children ARE a blessing, and life is VALUABLE!
And also? It’s really none of my business how many kids other people do or don’t have?
Thank you Karissa for the reminder that our words MATTER. I will definitely be choosing mine more carefully, especially when little ears are listening.
