.... I hear it all the time.... "You DO KNOW what's causing this right?".... "You have 5(!!) children?!"..... "How many more kids are you planning on having?!" - that one with an exasperated tone like it's somehow offensive..... "Will this baby be your last?!" ... It's amazing the stigma associated with having more than 3 kids... People say this one: "WOW you've got YOUR hands full" so often I don't even hear it anymore...
So here are the answers in case you are one of the curious... even though I don't think it's anyone's business but mine and Lion's (and God's) how many children we are going to have or when we have them...
Why so many Babies? - WHY NOT?
You DO KNOW what's causing this right? - I sure do, and it's oh-so-much FUN!
You have 5(!!) children?! - well, lets count... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... yes I do have 5, and another on the way!
How many more children are you having?! -- this answer will be the subject of this post.
Will this baby be your last? - well, I don't know... maybe, maybe not. (this answer is tied to the previous)
WOW! You've got YOUR hands full! -- *big smile* well, at least my hands aren't idle... YOU DO know how the saying goes?! Idle hands and idle minds are the devil's playground.
so since the basics are covered, I will now answer the only remaining question... How many more children WILL we be having? The answer is.... I don't know. I know that that seems an odd response considering today's prevailing attitude that women, and men, should be able to specify when they are "done". Lion and I have had many, many in-depth discussions on this very topic, and the end result of every discussion boils down to this: We are leaving the number and frequency of pregnancies and births squarely in the hands of God. It seems like a fairly simple thing to do... to leave something in the hands of God... but not simple at all when actually put in practice. It takes a great deal of faith, to place such a large part of our life in someone's else's court (even though that court is God's court)... to understand that even though *I* may not think I am capable of having another child (and maintaining my sanity)... He knows if I am, or if I'm not.
There was a time when we did NOT do this, however. I was on a form of birth control after Tortoise was born... for 3 years... it wasn't until I converted to Catholicism, and Lion returned to the Church that we came to the conclusion that it was the one area in our lives where we can safely say that God is firmly in control. And I have to say that it wasn't The Church that forced us into this line of thinking.. but our own conclusions drawn from the teachings OF the Church, in the bible, and the "classes" we took together for me to convert. We don't "preach" our viewpoint to others... unless they sincerely wish to know, or unless they ask dumb questions and I feel put-upon enough to tell them to butt the hell out of business that does not concern them ( I Do realize that this is not a Christian attitude, but sometimes pregnancy, nursing, and post-preggers hormones get the better of me - and sometimes I have no excuse... I'm just tired of having to hear stranger's opinions of MY life, when I didn't ask for them). Of course, I have no medical conditions or anything else that makes pregnancy and childbirth dangerous for me, so that helps with the faith aspect... I can honestly say I don't know how I could deal with that... maybe HE knows that 6 kids and a serious medical condition are too much for poor-little-ol-me to handle. There was a time -- very recently (after the loss of a pregnancy -and child- in December), when I thought I might have to insert my own opinions on how many children we should have... and when... but -- as always happens when my Faith in His Plan with regards to our children wavers or weakens-- He placed his hands into our lives yet again, and with the help of 2 very wonderful and kind and generous people, I am once again squarely on the right path again. I know it is the right path simply because any time I begin to falter, He is there to light the way... to make it just a touch easier in one way or another... and I Thank God and those Wonderful and Kind and Generous People (KaGP) for hearing Him and me, in my (our) time of need. THANK YOU GOD. and God Bless You KaGP!
0 comments:
Post a Comment