I Don't Want Anymore Because...

I hear it ALL the time, "I don't want to bring kids into this world because it is so evil."  That's the answer almost every single time I am talking to someone about why they do not want more kids or why they don't want any kids at all.  Although, I do believe that is a true statement (because who couldn't tell the world is full of evil when we watched the events in Charlottesville take place over the weekend), I also believe that that is all the more reason WHY Christian families should choose to have children.  The fact of the matter is that the world has been evil since the fall of man in Genesis when Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  That was it.  That was also over 6,000 years ago.  If we, as Christians, choose to not have any children then Christianity will become almost non-existent in just a matter of a few decades.  That is a scary thought.  Then what will this world be like?  I'm not saying that everyone who is not a Christian is evil, I'm just simply stating that with God all things are better...after all, he did give you life.  I can't imagine a world without Christianity, how wicked it would be is really beyond my comprehension.

Evil has been around for well over 6,000 years now.  The reason that we feel like the world is more wicked now is because there are more people, BUT we hear about all the terrible things that happen all the time because of technology.  We can get an instant report of any bad thing that has happened, almost anywhere in this world with just the touch of a screen or click of a mouse. We can be anywhere, at anytime and see what is going on or hear about it with the help of the radio or alerts on our phones or on TV.  Our world is so consumed with only broadcasting the bad things that we ignore the good.  The evening news only talks about the bad things that have happened that day, your local paper only discusses recent arrests, or shootings and so on...therefore, I think that is why we have just developed the mentality that the world is more evil now than it was back in Bible times.  From the time God found Adam and Eve "hiding" in the garden until today, evil has been around.  I mean, Cain killed his brother (Abel),  David had Uriah killed to cover up an affair he had with Uriah's wife that led to her getting pregnant, there were plenty of wars, the Israelites were slaves, Saul killed Christians (before becoming Paul), not to mention all of the diseases there were and the list could go on.  All of these examples are straight from the Bible, times when people believe there were no such things like murder or adultery taking place.  If you take a closer look at the story of the Israelites while they were in slavery to Egypt for hundreds of years, they still kept having children.  As a matter of fact they kept having them at such a rate that Pharaoh became fearful  they would ally themselves with Egypt's enemies, so he ordered that all newborn Hebrew boys to be killed in order to reduce the population of the Israelites.  Then along came Moses.  What a mighty man of God he was.  That just goes to show you that even in the midst of the most terrible times God will have his way and his people will prevail.  That's a different story for a different day, but feel free to read the book of Exodus and you will see just how terrible it was for the Israelites and how God saved Moses from Pharaoh to become the man who ultimately ended up being the one (with the help of Aaron) to have the people freed. 

Now, on to the point that Christianity is dying out.  Did you know that there are more Christians dying of old age than there are being born?  In Germany alone researchers have found that there were an estimated 1.4 MILLION more Christian deaths than births between the years 2010 and 2015.  Muslim babies will outnumber Christian births by the year 2035.  Islam is said to be the fastest, most rapidly growing religion in the world.  Not just in certain countries, but in the WORLD.  People, Christians, Christianity is literally dying out!  Our future generations don't have a chance in this world if we put fear before God's will.  The Bible explicitly tells us to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28). I wholeheartedly believe if you are able to have children, then this is what we, as Christians, are called to do and should do.  I get it though.  It's scary raising children in this world, but what are the chances of of it being better if we don't have children to train up the way God says and send them out to reach the world?  Who knows, you may be holding the world back from the next Moses or Billy Graham.  If we can't put our faith and trust in God to take care of our precious babies, the very one who gave life, then do we really, truly have ANY faith in God for anything to begin with?  

Christianity is depleting quickly, trust God. I encourage you to read the book of Exodus, along with these few verses here:  Romans 8:28 Proverbs 22:6  Matthew 17:20  Genesis 1:28 Psalm 127:5

Save The Trees, Kill the Babies

  Wait, wait, wait now before any of you start trying to jump down my throat. I am completely pro-life.  Honestly though, how terrible and absolutely downright disturbing does that sound?  The truth is, that is how most Americans feel.  Our views of having children have become so skewed in this day and time, so much so that if anyone has more than two kids in the house we look at them like they are some sort of mysterious, undiscovered monster from the deepest depths of the ocean.  We think that they have lost their everloving minds. However, I believe that we have totally misconstrued our priorities. Children are the biggest blessing that God has given us on this earth.  The Bible says that children are an heritage from the Lord (Psalm 127:3).  We have become so "green-minded" and so "women's rights" this and that that we have lost total sight of what life really means.  
  Let me get down to the nitty-gritty here.  I will start off by saying that I am absolutely in every way, shape and form WHOLEHEARTEDLY pro-life.  I believe that if God gives you a baby in your womb then that baby is completely in his hands and whatever may happen will be for a unique purpose that only He knows.  He is the giver of life and he knew us before we were even formed in our mother's womb (Jeremiah 1:5).  He has everything in control.
  On the other hand, there are people out there who are more worried about saving the trees than saving babies.  How can we, as humans, sit around and let these innocent babies die from abortions and be t-totally okay with it, yet when we hear that another tree is about to be chopped down people march in protests and chain themselves to the equipment in hopes of stopping the process? How does that even seem logical? Don't get me wrong here, I know trees are essential to this beautiful earth but isn't a human life more important than a tree? 
Abortions have only been recorded since 1969 (in America) and from 1970 until 2013 there was a total of 51,888,303 abortions...just in America and those are just the abortions that were reported to the CDC.  Only God knows how many abortions have occurred that were not reported to the CDC.   In 1990 alone there was a reported 1,429,247 abortions ...ONE MILLION!! ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_statistics_in_the_United_States )  Those statistics don't even account for the early term abortions that some birth controls cause (that will be a different story for a different day).  That makes me feel physically sick to my stomach!  Yet, we scream and cry over trees being torn down...TREES people!! These poor innocent babies who were conceived had NO choice in the matter.  I'm sure I will generate some negative comments from the pro-choice people out there and that's fine, but think of this...these babies had absolutely no choice in the matter of being conceived and for them to be punished by death because of YOUR CHOICE is egregious! I don't think that this article will change anyone's mind who may be pro-choice, but if it does then it will be worth it!  The moment that a baby is conceived it is ALIVE.  It has a heartbeat and it is a developing human being. 
  Now, I would like to tell you how I personally know that people's views of having several children have changed.  If I had a penny for every time that I went to the store or just out in public and someone asked me "Are all of those yours?"; I would be a millionaire. No. Lie.  It doesn't matter where I go but it never fails that when I do go somewhere that question is ALWAYS asked, and quite frankly I've grown accustomed to the questions and the stares.  It doesn't bother me in the least little bit, but every time people ask me the notorious question and wait for my answer it's almost like they're taken aback when I say yes, they are all mine.  Almost like they are anxiously awaiting for me to say no just so they can feel like they can breathe again and not have to throw out any unwanted "advice".  However, people have caught me on bad days and asked me questions and just out of my own raw emotions in the moment I have made some smart remarks and thought some ugly things. I just want to look at them and say "What difference does it make to you if they're all mine? You don't pay my bills, you don't live in my house, you don't take care of them...what does it matter if they're all mine?!" If I'm honest, sometimes I would just LOVE nothing more than to just blurt those words from my mouth.  A few weeks ago, at a local grocery store, I encountered something I haven't encountered yet...a grumpy old man.  The man never stopped to speak to me, but as I was going into the store with ALL four of the kids in tow he was coming out of the store and without hesitation proceeded to say (as he kept walking and in his grouchy old man voice) "You ain't going to get any shopping done with all of them kids." It just kind of threw me for a loop.  I did what I knew to do, rolled my eyes and quite happily kept pushing my buggy with two of my precious jewels inside and went grocery shopping.  It's not that what the man said was all that rude, but just the way he said it rubbed me the wrong way.  I know of others with several kids who have experienced hateful situations regarding the size of their families also.  Let's face it, people will tell you like it is nowadays, they don't care if they know you or not or even if they hurt your feelings. They will eat you alive like some sort of vulture and then happily be on their merry little way. Life has become more about OUR our own convenience than what about God says.  In Genesis 1:27 God says, be fruitful and multiply.  He doesn't list a specific number of babies to have, although he does say in Psalms 127:4-5 that happy is the man that his quiver full of them (children).  Let's face it, society cannot stand anything that goes against the "norm", and having more than two or three children definitely goes against the grain these days. We are so caught up in being economically friendly (which is great by the way) and doing what we want that we have completely misconstrued what life really is.  Do you know how I know that we have a skewed vision of what life really is?  I know, because when it comes down to us choosing to save the trees or guiltlessly kill innocent babies; people are choosing to kill innocent babies! We, as a people, have for several decades now kicked God to the sidelines and have completely given up on Him.  Murder is a sin.  That is a fact.  Deuteronomy 5:17 says "Thou shalt not kill." When you purposefully murder an unborn child, that is exactly what you are doing. You are saying that that child isn't good enough to live.  It makes my heart ache to think that such things go on.  Planned Parenthood is as evil as evil gets.  Who on God's green earth thinks that RIPPING limbs off of them poor babies and then turning around and SELLING them is even remotely okay?  It makes me feel physically sick to my stomach just thinking about it. I can tell you right now that God does not approve of such things. Herein lies the arguments of people who are pro-choice. "If the baby is going to have a disability we don't want it"; "What if you were raped, you wouldn't want to keep it." Let me just tell you, I know people who have overcome each of these obstacles and have had the baby despite what the doctors or society tells them to do. I just don't understand how, as a mother, you would choose to abort the baby because something may be wrong with it.  Being a mother means being selfless and sacrificing.  I would give my life in an instant so my babies could live. Babies are not items we can return because they may be defective.  Babies are made to be loved no matter what the circumstance may be.  They are like rainbows after the storm.  I have had two miscarriages myself and although they were early on in the pregnancy that was still a loss of a child to me. It is hard to talk about it at times but there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about what those children may look like, or act like or what kind of food they would like; so when someone intentionally kills a beautiful unborn soul it shakes me to my core.  Babies are of God.  Babies are given to us by God.  The greatest calling on any person is the calling to be a parent.             
  In spite of what society says is "good" or "acceptable" I will keep doing what God called me to do and that is being a mother.  I don't care how many snarky people I encounter on my way there.  Society doesn't determine my family size, God does.  Society doesn't determine my happiness.  Society doesn't determine what I am to do with my kids or my life.  I  strive to live it as closely as I can to the Bible.  I'm not saying my family is living in some sort of magical, rainbow, fairytale land with magical unicorns and where we are all always happy go lucky and things are as great as gold.  That would be a bit of an exaggeration.  Things around here are about as chaotic as Tony Romo's  doctors visits from his last year in the NFL. There is never, ever a dull moment...unless they are sleeping, and even then I have to watch out for the sleepwalkers, sleep talkers, the ones who just stand beside my bed and stare me in my face like they will devour me at any given minute.  Life is grand though.  Life is grand when they're sick, life is grand when they're having bad days, life is grand when I'm having a bad day, life is grand when they won't let me get any shopping done, life is grand when I've had no sleep, life is grand even when they're punching each other and I'm contemplating on grounding myself for a few days...out of state...by myself.  I have completely forgotten what life was like before kids...I anticipate it being very, very boring though.  They make everything better.  Even mornings.  Trust me, that says a lot coming from me.  If you would have asked me two months ago if I would have more kids I would have flat out, without no hesitation told you "NO", four is plenty, but oh how my thoughts and views have changed over the course of these past two months.  I wouldn't trade my kids for anything in this world and if God allows me to then I would gladly accept more of them! I know that sounds crazy to probably most of everyone reading this, but when you sit back and look at kids and put your own selfish thoughts to the side about how much of an inconvenience you think they may be or how much time it takes to do things for them when you could be doing other things or how much it costs to raise them and so on; when you truly sit back and look at how much of a miracle and a blessing from God they really are and at how short of a time span eighteen years really is, then your heart grows a little bigger for each child.  I recently read a quote that said "No one has ever died wishing they would have had less children, but there have been plenty that have died wishing they would have had at least one more." 
  In conclusion, let's not give in to what society says is best in any aspects of our lives.  As Christians, we are to follow God wholeheartedly and what His word says.  It's all good to be eco-friendly but when it comes down to choosing life, let that life be the life of a precious little newborn baby.