Now that I have introduced my boys and I, I want to talk a little bit about the blessing that children are. I currently live in a society that looks at children as a curse. I do not know how many times people have came up to me in the grocery store see the twins and say "you must have your hands full" or "They must be trouble" I usually laugh to myself and think they have no idea how wonderful children are. My children at 4 and 2 years old do more work than most grown men do, My 4 yr old does breakfast dishes, wipes the table off, takes garbage out and compost, plus whatever other jobs I might need help with and works on his school which includes Math, Writing, Letter identification, Bible and learning Koine Greek. My twins pick up (and dump out) the toys 2-3 times a day, they also help Oliver with the dishes occasionally, and carry things to the car for their mama when they go to town. Saying all this I know a grown man usually does more than this in a day but comparatively to their size and education. Yesterday I was digging out a window well so we could fit a window that would be up to fire code. My boys helped me by taking their buckets and letting me fill them up and than they would dump their bucket and I was able to move a 3x5 space of dirt about 12 inches deep. Without their help I would not have been able to move that much dirt. The Amish have a saying that a 3-7 year old is a burden, a 7-14 is a help and 14-18/20 should be producing an additional income. I do not want to be an oppressive father that never has fun with his sons because that would be a lie. I want my boys to grow up and do all that they put their minds to I want them to understand Solomon and his wisdom writings that are talking about hard work.
children are not a burden, they do require work and the key is selflessness. This brings me to my next point that is children give us opportunity to pick up our cross. We get so consumed by our own lives and things we want to do, the ministry we want to run, the hobbies we want to have. Why would I want a kid to mess that up? I have heard people try to tell me they are so happy to be single without kids "to much work" they say. I am going to surround myself with biological and adopted children and if that causes me to lay down my desires, dreams or goals I will gladly do it. My boys bring me to a place I could never go as a single man I can truly stand at the gates of the city and I will be defended by my boys.
I think of Mary mother of Jesus, would she be willing to give up a career or ministry if Mary lived in this age. We have a high calling to raise children in this time even when it is unpopular. I heard a man named Randy Bohlander say once "The church cannot be pro-life until it is pro-child."
"children give us opportunity to pick up our cross."
ReplyDelete"My boys bring me to a place I could never go as a single man"
That is so good. Your blog makes me look at raising children differently. I never thought of it that way.
P.S. I commented earlier about teaching your kids Greek but I guess you are already doing that! So cool!