March 16, 2009

Family Size

I recently had a conversation with a Catholic, NFPing mom. She and her husband are former NFP teachers and have 6 sons, so she had a wealth of knowledge to share with me.

I asked her to speak with me because while Travis and I understand how to implement the science side of NFP, the spiritual side has been more of a challenge, at least for me.

Throughout our conversation she shared what discernment looked like for her and her husband along with several chunks of wisdom. The statement that resonated the loudest and longest with me was that deciding to have another child is much bigger than if Travis and I want another one. We have to consider the child we could conceive and his heritage. So then to conceive or not to conceive grows from being a decision for one point in time for two people, to a decision for eternity and generations. Instead of putting more weight on my shoulders, this comment made me recognize the honor and importance of creating new life.

I'm so glad she was willing to share with me. While I still have a lot of study, prayer and growth that I need to do in this area, I feel like I now have a much more realistic understanding of what God and Church expect from me. And to that I say, "whew..."

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