I’m so glad that I had young, godly, passionate couples to look up to before I got married.  Specifically Kevin & Meg and Matt & Julie.  Not that I was afraid to get married, but it was re-assuring to think ‘okay, if Kev can be in school and do this, then I can do this too.’  ‘Okay, if Matt can lead Julie, then I can at least try with Michelle!’ It was a great source of inspiration early on.

Now comes baby stage. Who will be first?  Seems like the ‘race’ will soon be on.  Not that it’s a competition, but I’m willing to take bets!  I won’t say that there’s been lots of pressure to have children, but there has been enough!  I have a feeling that Michelle and I will probably start a little later, but end up with the most.

To tell you the truth, I’m looking forward to again having young passionate couples to lead the way.  We already have a little bit of that through Sarah and CJ, but Texas is just so dang far away!  Here’s why I’m looking forward to having other couples go first- I have a lot of questions. Like…

Who will get run ragged by their sick baby who won’t sleep nights?  What if a couple has a child with some sort of handicap?  What if they can’t get pregnant at all? How will a couple cope with a miscarriage?  How will the husbands respond to the lack of attention that they may (not) receive from their wives during the early years?  How much does a baby or three reeeeally cost?  How will their new time commitment affect their quality of work, relationships, and ministry?  How will they deal with a rebellious teenage daughter or a violently angry son?  How will they cope with accidental death or injury?  How do you deal with sibling rivalry? Conflicting schedules?  How will you discipline them?  How will you raise them up in the Lord?  How will you show them love?

Children are a gift from God.  I like gifts by the dozen. But I also want to learn from experience.  I’m grateful for the pioneers called parents.  It’s the only way that I’ll get my questions answered and be able to raise up a new godly generation right within our home.  And that’s worth waiting for!

What questions do you have about baby-raisin’?

• “Do it now before you have children…”