Part VI: Foretelling the Future

I once read a Christian leader's opinion that when a couple has "as many children as they can effectively serve the Lord with," then it was admissible to get surgical sterilization.

What he forgot to include was the number of that direct line he had with God. The one that let him know when he had reached his "child saturation point," after which he couldn't serve God effectively anymore.

Obviously we have a good feel for our own limits. Health, organizational skills, emotional personality, finances -- all should play a part in how we raise and grow our families.

But it's also true that we often underestimate ourselves. When I was the mother of one child, I'd have said I couldn't manage four. As it happens, I manage four rather well. I bet I could manage six, too. Probably even eight, although just the thought makes me feel panicky. My point is that while knowing our limitations and "what we can handle" is certainly a part of our decision-making, it doesn't seem like a good idea to make family-planning decisions based solely on what I think I can or can't handle.

There are exceptions, as always -- health comes to mind as the most serious one. Even then, many mothers have weathered medical death sentences and lived to tell about it. That's not a risk I think should be encouraged, in case anyone wonders.

But when it's just a question of how "effectively" I can "serve God," it doesn't seem like I'm in the best position to make the final call. Like Bree and Hwin in C.S. Lewis's The Horse and His Boy, we think we're running as fast as we can -- until God comes behind us like a lion and inspires true passion and speed.

-- SJ