family planning

I'm reading a lot these days...w/ a 4 month old, exclusively nursing, you have the luxery of sit times throughout the day - i don't always have the pleasure of book in hand...as sometimes multitasking is required w/ the other 'little'.

One of the books i completed recently....was so revolutionary to me (and my mother, who went on to order a box of 24 of them)....is called, 'Created to be His helpmeet' - i'm even hesitant to mention the title - b/c there were many concepts that would be very debateable in today's Christian church culture....that said i'm sure that many of us can agree christian church culture is not always God's culture/Kingdom culture - sometimes it is far from it!

One subject that is on my heart...ALOT....is family planning. My mother asked me during my single years, if i planned on using birth control once i was married. At the time i had 2 convictions in that area, 1. that the pill was not an option, both for my health, and as many people don't realize (b/c the medical community is unable to have full disclosure for various reasons), that the pill does cause abortions - as a back-up. (IUD's also cause abortions, that is part of their function). and 2. i often wondered if God had a better idea of what was good for my life, than i did. So my answer was - no, mom, i don't plan on using birth control, if my partner is on the same page...."what? You'll be pregnant every 9months! how could you afford that".......Yup there is a lot of aurgument in this subject. Years ago, while i was in university, i believed that it was not right to bring many more children into this corrupt world...i now have changed my thought.

i read recently that currently the Islamic people are outnumbering western population 7 to 1. and thats not thru evangelism, thats thru birth - b/c they believe that children are a blessing and that by being "fruitful and multiplying", they will 'have dominion'. It will be interesting what our world could look like in 20yrs.

I'll warn you, the below quote may be offensive, it is from Mary Pride's book, The Way Home. Though i have not read the book, i've read other materials that have quoted her, as below.

"Family planning is the mother of abortion. A generation had to be indoctrinated in the ideal of planning children around personal convenience before abortion could become popular. We Christians raise an outcry against abortion today and rightly so. But the reason we have to fight those battles today is because we lost them thirty years ago. Once couples began to look upon children as creatures of their own making, who they could plan into their lives as they chose or not, all reverence for human life was lost... Abortion is first of all a heart attitude. "Me first." "My career first." "My reputation first." "My convenience first." "My financial plans first." And these exact same choices are what family planning, which the churches have endorsed for three decades, is all about."



So far we have not been pregnant every 9 months. I have been pregnant 4 times in the last 5 years, but have lost 2 before i reached 12 weeks. So i'm so grateful for the 2 'beauties' i have. i think of my friends who are suffering of infertility at the time - and how heartbreaking that is.

On the topic, of family planning, i have to ask the question, i read recently...."Who am I, to question my Creator?"

we humans so often fall into the error of worshipping our own opinions....a dear friend, and mentor said to me once...God's people got it wrong, some of the most revered people in the Bible made Huge mistakes, even 12 people who actually walked and talked with the Lord in the Flesh, got it wrong at times....and thru out the church's dark history, we see time and time again, people missing the truth......what makes me think i'll get it all right? nope, i resolve to know nothing!