Well… You Know What Causes That!

Hello Dear Reader!

Okay, so if you’re reading this right now, the chances are pretty high that you know what causes pregnancy and that’s as much into detail as I’m going with that! If you aren’t aware of what causes pregnancy and have no idea what I’m talking about… Then put down your phone or get off of your computer and go ask your parents…

My wife and I are the proud parents of three beautiful girls… Their ages range from 6 months to 6 years old and we wouldn’t trade them for ANYTHING in the world!

I have to say that I’ve really been surprised at how many people, when we tell them we have three kids, get a look of shock and surprise on their face. Their usual initial response is something along the lines of “pfft! I couldn’t do that!” OR something like… “I’m so glad we stopped at 1 or 2!”. What amazes me even further still, is when people ask if we’re going to have more and we say “well, that’s up to God”… the varying responses we get from that statement is generally one of the following two examples…

• “Okay that’s cool” (while nodding in approval with a slight smile)

OR

• “OMG! I couldn’t handle more than the one (or two) that I already have!”

But strangely enough, I got an unexpected third reaction not too long ago… Someone said to me “Hey! You can’t blame God for that! You’ve got a lot to do with it too ya know…”

I was in total shock at hearing this because my first thought was… “I’m not blaming God for anything”. I’ve never even dreamed of blaming God for my children… Although I did not say this to the person since I was caught off guard and more or less left speechless…

But a little while later, as I kept thinking about this unexpected reaction I had received, I came to the realization that the cultural message of “you are in total control of your life” has caused many people (both young and old) in our society to become conformed to a single dimension of thought as to think of children as simply a consequence of a decision, whether intended or unintended, instead of thinking of children in the way that God intended us to think of them…

I think a lot of people, both young and old, Catholic and Protestant, have fallen into the trap of thinking that children are some sort of “side effect” or unintended consequence of sex… While I do not share or agree with this viewpoint, I do understand how someone could arrive at this perspective. AND… I do realize that many people who have this viewpoint aren’t necessarily aware that they have it or that their viewpoint is skewed in any way because let’s face it… In today’s world, most of us avoid the hard questions of life, especially when it comes to the question of the purpose of life and, more specifically, procreation…

God is love… He is the Blessed Trinity, three Divine Persons rolled into one (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). Within the Trinity he is always giving and receiving love. As Christians we are called to be conduits of His divine grace and mercy to the world and in marriage we are called to be a reflection of that divine grace and mercy within our relationship with regard to our spouse.

I love looking at the Sacrament of Marriage through the eyes of the Holy Trinity… In marriage, we are called to mirror God’s love for us… When a Man and Woman love each other so intensely and conform to each other in communion by becoming “one flesh”, then nine months later they may very well have to give that love a name! That love becomes tangible to us in the form of another human being. If we look at the love between the Father and the Son, their love becomes so intense that they form the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit! “Marriage is the icon of God’s love for us” (Amoris Laetitia, no. 121).

I love what the Catechism of The Catholic Church has to say in paragraph 1652… “By its very nature the institution of marriage and married love is ordered to the procreation and education of the offspring and it is in them [children] that it finds its crowning glory.” I don’t think we can get any clearer picture of God’s purpose for children in marriage than through these words given to us by The Church…

Children should be viewed as a reflection of the grace, love, power and joy of the marital covenant that Man and Woman (that child’s parents) have made AS WELL AS the marital covenant between Christ and His Church!

“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her…” “So [also] husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one hates his own flesh but rather nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. For this reason a man shall leave [his] father and [his] mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”

Ephesians 5: 25, 28-31

My children are a blessing!!! And I pray to God that I never have an inkling of thought otherwise… I could never think of my children as anything but a blessing of my marriage from my heavenly Father! When Jessie and I say “well, that’s up to God”… we aren’t blaming God for causing us to endure some sort of illness or side effect called pregnancy, but rather we’re inviting our Lord into our marriage so that if it be His will, that our marriage might be blessed with the most precious gift of a new life…

God Bless You my dear reader… Until next time!

Your Humble Servant in Christ,

William