The Blessing of Children

I have alluded to things going on in my life on a couple of posts and thought I would share it with you, and go on a small rant. Birdie and I just recently found out we are expecting our fifth child. This is somewhat of a surprise for us as the last one was born 4 ½ years ago. We thought we were basically infertile until now, but one can never know what the Lord has in mind. We do have some prayer requests though. First and foremost pray for the health of mama and the baby. When we moved back to Dallas we did not bring any baby stuff (as we thought the Lord had said we were through having children) so we are starting over as if this were a first child please pray that the lord will provide what we need. Also with our financial needs, I work as a contractor and have no benefits; we are praying that He will provide for all of the medical expenses that will be incurred. Birdie and I thank you in advance for your prayers.

And now for the rant, as most of you know Birdie and I have already been blessed with 4 children, and number five is on the way. We have a view that children are one of the blessings from G_d, and a blessing that carries heavy responsibility. We also believe that if children are truly a blessing then who are we to limit those blessings. Now we are constantly amazed at how we are treated when people find out how many children we have.(BTW we have raised them with no help from the government or family) It ranges from shock, to amazement, to down right scorn. Very rarely do we encounter someone who thinks this is wonderful. Sadly, we have even encountered this in our family. Most notably from Birdie’s stepmother who practically begged her to have her tubes tied after Puddleglum was born. This has caused a strain on the family that I do not know how to repair. We also dread informing Birdie’s parents because of this. So at a time when we should be celebrating life there is a sense of sadness as well due to the perception of more family strife. I just do not understand how anyone could think that having a child is a bad thing. Children are a blessing.