The Children I Almost Didn't Have

I’m so glad I listened to the Lord.

I’m grateful that I chose to trust His promises and welcome the children He gave us. In a culture where it has become increasingly rare to hear someone say, “Go ahead—have more children,” the message around us is often the opposite.

Don’t.
You can’t.
You shouldn’t.

But the Lord speaks differently.

Earlier this week we were walking along a path together. Four of my eight children were walking ahead of me, laughing and talking as we went. I paused for a moment and realized something that took my breath away.

If I had made different choices…none of these children would be here.

None of these personalities.
None of these voices.
None of these stories God is writing.

And my heart filled with gratitude.

The Lord says in Psalm 127:3: “Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from Him.”

A gift.
A reward.

That’s very different from the message our world often sends—that children are mainly a burden or an interruption to our plans.

I didn’t start out as a “mom of many.” (For the record, I have eight children… and Don has eight as well. Yes, that makes sixteen!) I started out as a college-educated, independent woman with a carefully planned future career.

I had my life mapped out.

But the Lord had something better in mind.

He gently interrupted my plans and gave me the desires of my heart before I even understood what those desires truly were. Through the gift of my children, He began reshaping my priorities, my dreams, and even my understanding of what a meaningful life looks like.

God wants to BLESS you with children, they are one of his best gifts. Have you ever told the Lord: 

"Don’t bless me with too much health - how would I handle it all?” 

or 

"

Nope God, that’s plenty of money, I’ve got my hands full!” 

NO way! We ask the Lord to abundantly bless us in so many areas...except by giving us children. 

I’ll be honest—I wrestled with God over this. My thinking had to be completely transformed. But through His Word and the wisdom of godly voices, He began renewing my mind.

And slowly I began to see what He sees.

Children are not a limitation to the life God has for us.

They are one of His greatest blessings.

Looking back now, I see something I couldn’t fully understand at the beginning. I thought I was simply choosing to have children.

But God was doing something much deeper.

I was raising them…

and all along,

He was remaking me.

Blessings,

Renita

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. "

Romans 12:2