The Decision

It's funny to hear people's reaction to us having a fourth child. I'm waiting for people to start calling me Jim Bob. The funniest reaction was when my neighbors asked if we were secretly Catholic.

The truth is we didn't want to have a fourth child. Stacy had a very rough pregnancy with Mackenzie and we thought three was hard enough. Now they have us outnumbered! It's already difficult running Gabe & Sara around to all their activities. I can't imagine what it will be like with four at school age.

That was until earlier this year. Stacy had a problem with her IUD and had to get it surgically removed. Her doctor asked if she wanted her tubes tied "while she was in there." That was an eye opener for both of us. At that point, we weren't ready to have another baby, but we didn't want the finality of tying tubes. (On a side note, we were blessed enough for Stacy to quit her job and be able to stay home with the kids.)

When school started this year, it was just Stacy and Mackenzie at home during the day. She felt like now would be a great time to try for another baby. Truthfully, I wasn't ready yet. We did continue to pray for God to show us when the time would be right.

One October morning, I read Psalms 127. In my Bible, The Message, verses 3-5 say, "Don't you see that children are God's best gift? The fruit of the womb his generous legacy? Like a warriors fist full of arrows, are the children of a vigorous youth. Oh, how blessed are you parents, with your quivers full of children! Your enemies don't stand a chance against you; you'll sweep them right off your doorstep."

I meditated on this verse for a few minutes and knew that I was meant to read this verse at this specific time in my life. But like any faithful Christian, I asked God for confirmation (sarcasm). I heard this bird outside my window that morning. It would chirp three times and stop and then three times and stop, over and over. I prayed, "God make that bird chirp four times if we should have four children." By now, you know the bird chirped four times. Being my faithful self (more sarcasm), I thought, "Maybe that was a fluke. God make the bird only chirp three times from now on." The bird did only chirp three times for the rest of the morning.

That night Stacy went to bed before me and I wrote Psalms 127 3-5 out on our menu chalkboard. She stopped her birth control a week or two later and we found out that she was a pregnant a few days after Thanksgiving.

I don't think parents are supposed to say this, but I'm more excited about this pregnancy than the other three because it is God's timing not ours. It's us putting our faith in God. He had a plan to allow Stacy to stay home, for me to read those versus, for that bird to chirp four times, and for us to have another child at this moment in time.

Here is what I hope you can take from this blog and apply to any area of your life:

This life is not mine. My finances, family, house, bank account, business, and time are not mine. They are God's. We are doing God's will and not the worlds. The world tells us, two or three kids are enough, you can't afford anymore, the world is over populated, blah, blah, blah. But, God said to me, "Don't you see children are God's best gift?"

What is God saying to you about a "the decision" in your life?