Are children a heritage?

I am only on chapter 2 of Sally Clarkson's book, The Mission of Motherhood, and it is so good! I wrote one post a couple weeks ago about the first chapter and my thoughts. I wrote down some thoughts on chapter 2 last week, but I'm just getting around to writing them out here.

In chapter 2 she is talking about the meaning of Biblical Motherhood. She talks some about children being a blessing, about what society thinks of children, and so on. Here are some of my thoughts.

Children are a blessing from God. We know this is true because of the scriptures to back it up. Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. Psalm 127:3, clearly states they are a heritage of the Lord and the fruit (children) of the womb (Mother's womb) is his (parents) reward. How can we argue with that? I've been a Mother for 5 years on Saturday and I can tell you they are a reward. Are they hard? Of course, they are human! They are still a reward nonetheless. It used to be a horrible thing when a woman was barren in the OT days. It was almost as if she was cursed from others view point. Now, today it seems as if some are happy to not have a child ever. Isn't that sad? So many women suffer from infertility, yet so many kill their babies without even a second glance. 


Society sees children as a burden, not a blessing. We know this because since this day just 40 years ago, 55 million babies have been aborted in America. Who knows if it is more? This is so sad and heartbreaking. Society says don't have children, you can't have all you want. Society says don't have more than 1 or 2, you'll never have your life back. Notice a trend? Selfishness. I have actually had someone tell my husband that if you want nice things after you retire, you may want to stop having children. Really? I may never have a nice vacation home in the Smokies or a condo in Florida, but I will have my children (and hopefully grandchildren) and that is a blessing. They will be my legacy, my heritage. Jesus even saw the children as a blessing. He told his disciples that unless we come to the Father like a little child, we will not enter the kingdom of heaven.  And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:2-4. When we do not value life in the womb, we sure won't value it outside of the womb.


Large families take up more spaces and resources. 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 127:4-5 A lot of people have tried to discourage us from having more children. You need rest. Your body needs rest. You can't make it on one income with a lot of kids. All of the above we've heard. We have been so blessed by God since having our boys. I believe we would have missed some mighty provisions of God if not for our children. He's done somethings we haven't even told others because we know they won't believe it.We only have 3 boys and obviously that is a lot now days. I hear the argument that large families are using up all the earth's resources. I still don't understand that one. It used to be a wonderful thing to have a lot of children around to love, have help out,and teach life too. Now, it's a shame. The Duggars are a wonderful example. I have read some pretty nasty comments about this family just because they have a lot of children. It is their right and they have chosen life. Large families help the society I think. They tend to be more caring, less selfish, and in tune to the needs around them. I may never have a lot of children, but I won't try to stop others from it.

The disdain for family has been the breakdown of the society. When we stray from God's design for the family and mankind, we see the society we are living in today. There is no respect for life at all. There is no respect for traditional marriage at all. There is no respect for the Word of God at all. The list cold go on and on. God had a design for marriage and the family long ago in the Garden of Eden. In the days of Noah they strayed from it and God destroyed everything. I think we are as bad as Noah today in our society. God designed a man and a woman to get married and then be fruitful and multiply (have children). It must be heartbreaking and frustrating for God to look at His beautiful creation ruining itself. When we do not value life in the womb, we will not value it outside of the womb. The breakdown of the family is the fall of society. 


Those are my thoughts on some of the issues she touched on. Only a 2 of the sentences in bold are straight from Sally's book, the rest are all my thoughts.