Sympathy and Love. More than anything else, married couples
and families need sympathy and love from their friends and especially from
their brothers and sisters in Christ. God never said He gives you the ability
to discern what’s best for someone else’s family. We have grace only to discern
our own and we have no idea what another person or family is going through.
Simply showing sympathy and love can do more than endless conversations on
faith.
Life can be difficult; it can be challenging; it can even
feel like everything is collapsing at times. Yet, where do we put our faith?
Life can sometimes be a struggle because of finances. It can seem, that no
matter what you do, it is never enough. Why would you even think about bringing
a child into this situation if you can barely keep up with yourselves or the
children you have now? Is it worth the risk?
Forget money; let’s talk about sanity! Children demand so
much of your time, your energy, and your whole self. How will you mentally
survive being a parent of another child? What if you have a breakdown and can’t
care for any of them? Is it worth the risk?
Personally, we have had an interesting year ourselves.
Finding out that not only one son, but three have an extremely rare, incurable
disease, is hard enough. Realizing that it is genetic is even more difficult.
It means that any child we might have in the future would have a 50% chance of
having this same disease. That means that a future child has a 50% chance of
having to undergo medical tests and doctor visits every six months of his life,
get injections of medicine every single day, and endure extensive pain. Is it
worth the risk?
Is it?
All of life is risk. There is a risk every time you walk out
the front door, get in your car, ride a plane. There is a risk every time you
love someone, trust someone, give a gift to someone. There is a risk every time
you learn something, build something, try something new. Yet, we are encouraged
to overcome fear in life. We hear "believe in yourself”, "just do it”,
"if you can dream it, you can achieve it”, "travel the world”, and
"overcome your fear”. Yet, when it comes to family, it feels like it’s all
"whoa, Nelly!” and putting on the brakes. You don’t want to be that crazy!
If a couple prayerfully discerns a call to be open to life
again or for the first time, would it be crazy to trust God? Do we believe God
loves us or not? Do we believe God will help us and give us the grace we need
every day or not? There comes a time in a couples’ life that only they can
discern what God is calling them to.
We have chosen to walk in God, to walk in life! We are
expecting our next precious child on March 29, 2015. This child might not be
perfect, but that makes him or her no less precious in the eyes of God. Disease
or not, healthy or not, life is precious. My children have brought me joy,
worry, love, overwhelming happiness, but mostly, they have brought me to my
knees – right where I need to be: in God’s hands.
The fear of what we might lose or might go wrong should
never direct our actions. Let self-giving love direct your actions. Let
self-giving love guide your thoughts and decisions. Let this love soften your
heart to give sympathy and not judgment to other couples and families, whether
they have a few children, many or none at all. None of us can know the heart of
another except for God. Let us choose life over fear, to choose to live in God
and trust Him. He will never forsake you.
- See more at:
http://dowcourier.org/choosing-life-over-fear-p424-171.htm#sthash.2Sz8caCw.dpuf
