Why We Have Three Kids

I've been married long enough to have experienced the change from "When are you having kids?" to "When are you going to stop having kids?" I would guess that any couple who has more than two children has probably gone through this at one time or another. I decided to put our thoughts and convictions on children here in a blog post, just to have them organized all in one place, kind of like I did on the "Why We Homeschool" post. This is long, so be prepared!

I've always been pro-life; I've always been pro-adoption, but my personal conviction that children are a blessing from God and not something to be prevented has cemented gradually. A conversation with a friend on the dangers of birth control, a convicting passage of Scripture, the whisper of the Holy Spirit during a sermon, the faces of my newborn children ... the list goes on. I could take reams of paper (gigs of RAM?) to tell you everything God has laid on my heart about this issue, but I'm going to simply share a few Scriptures on the subject. The following two Psalms perfectly capture God's view of children.

Psalm 127

Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh [but] in vain. [It is] vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: [for] so he giveth his beloved sleep. Lo, children [are] an heritage of the LORD: [and] the fruit of the womb [is his] reward. As arrows [are] in the hand of a mighty man; so [are] children of the youth. Happy [is] the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. 

Psalm 128:1-4
Blessed [is] every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy [shalt] thou [be], and [it shall be] well with thee. Thy wife [shall be] as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table. Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD.  

God makes it abundantly clear in His Word that children are a blessing sent from Him. When we take some frequently-heard statements and replace the word "children" with the word "blessings", the meaning becomes quite different from the rational, practical intention of the speaker:
"We're just not ready for blessings yet."
"We can't afford any more blessings."
"I couldn't handle more than two blessings!"
"If we have blessings, we won't have the freedom we're used to."
"We want more blessings, but the timing just isn't right."
Truly, all of these statements ultimately speak to uncertainty of the future, and a lack of trust in our heavenly Father.

Luke 12:22-28
And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body [is more] than raiment. Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more [will he clothe] you, O ye of little faith? 

 Allowing God control of every area of Jeff's and my life means giving Him the freedom to bless us as He chooses -- with one child or five.

*All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version, from Blue Letter Bible.*