Children May Be Priceless, But They Are Expensive
This is a repost of mine - enjoy:
I love when I leave church with my brain racing from the sermon of the day! Our awesome head pastor always feeds my brain and spiritual soul...
Today, he referenced a family that had just had their third baby and was visited by an associate pastor when still in the hospital. Their three boys were the only grandchildren on each side of the family -- and the story came out during the visit that one set of grandparents weren't happy about the pregnancy. They tried to talk them into terminating it at one point, even giving them literature on how expensive it was to raise a child (from birth to whenever). Pointing out over and over again over the 9 months how they simply didn't have that $200,000 for a third child...and if they DID have it, that would provide a nice summer home.
Makes you think, doesn't it? How people really let "stuff" get in the way of what is really important in life. A few years down the road, when they have the rolling giggles of that beautiful toddler ringing through their family functions or see him achieve fantastic teamwork at some sporting event...what will they be thinking then?
Yes, children are expensive to raise! It is an investment that you can not put a price on and it repays you in ways too numerous to count. Occasionally my husband looks around our small home and makes the comments that we should have a bigger house by this time in our lives...but here is the rest of our story:
Our priorities were children. To HAVE some and it took us ten years. First we stopped trying to prevent it from happening, then realized it wasn't happening. Soon were all the tests, procedures and injections along with the glorified "turkey baster" episodes - all of it out of our own pockets. End result? We adopted, LOL! Our beautiful little girl is a perfect match for us in EVERY way and, if I hadn't told you - you would never have known.
Our beautiful little girl is the reason we still have a small house - our journey to her is where we put our money for almost ten years and we are rewarded every single day!
It's time now for a larger home, one that is friendly for my in-laws who are in their mid to late 80s and blind. One level, easy handicap access and plenty of bathrooms...where my home office is further away from the family areas and where we can have friends over and host bible studies/fertility challenged couple support groups.
If God chose to bless us with an unexpected child -- our plans would work accordingly, never seeing that baby as an obstacle to what our lives could be but as an additional gift that we could never repay.
Take a moment to hug your little peanut - no matter how old they are. Do something silly, make them laugh. It's the best investment you can make!
I love when I leave church with my brain racing from the sermon of the day! Our awesome head pastor always feeds my brain and spiritual soul...
Today, he referenced a family that had just had their third baby and was visited by an associate pastor when still in the hospital. Their three boys were the only grandchildren on each side of the family -- and the story came out during the visit that one set of grandparents weren't happy about the pregnancy. They tried to talk them into terminating it at one point, even giving them literature on how expensive it was to raise a child (from birth to whenever). Pointing out over and over again over the 9 months how they simply didn't have that $200,000 for a third child...and if they DID have it, that would provide a nice summer home.
Makes you think, doesn't it? How people really let "stuff" get in the way of what is really important in life. A few years down the road, when they have the rolling giggles of that beautiful toddler ringing through their family functions or see him achieve fantastic teamwork at some sporting event...what will they be thinking then?
Yes, children are expensive to raise! It is an investment that you can not put a price on and it repays you in ways too numerous to count. Occasionally my husband looks around our small home and makes the comments that we should have a bigger house by this time in our lives...but here is the rest of our story:
Our priorities were children. To HAVE some and it took us ten years. First we stopped trying to prevent it from happening, then realized it wasn't happening. Soon were all the tests, procedures and injections along with the glorified "turkey baster" episodes - all of it out of our own pockets. End result? We adopted, LOL! Our beautiful little girl is a perfect match for us in EVERY way and, if I hadn't told you - you would never have known.
Our beautiful little girl is the reason we still have a small house - our journey to her is where we put our money for almost ten years and we are rewarded every single day!
It's time now for a larger home, one that is friendly for my in-laws who are in their mid to late 80s and blind. One level, easy handicap access and plenty of bathrooms...where my home office is further away from the family areas and where we can have friends over and host bible studies/fertility challenged couple support groups.
If God chose to bless us with an unexpected child -- our plans would work accordingly, never seeing that baby as an obstacle to what our lives could be but as an additional gift that we could never repay.
Take a moment to hug your little peanut - no matter how old they are. Do something silly, make them laugh. It's the best investment you can make!
what church do you go to?
ReplyDeleteHi Dawn!
ReplyDeleteI go to Bethel Lutheran Church, downtown Madison.
:)
Pastor Bill White, now retired, is simply the best story-teller, "preacher" that I have ever heard. He always connected the dots in a way that really made you think, instead of just thinking about what you were going to do after church, LOL.
It's been a honor to have him, while we did.
We do have 5 other amazing pastors and are narrowing our search down to replace our head pastor. If the new guy is half as good as Pastor White is, we will be super.
:)