Hidden Blessings

[adning id=”33097″]

Over the years I’ve written about the joys and benefits of having children.  The Bible tells us how blessed the man is whose quiver is full of arrows.  We read recently where American families average around 1.7 arrows in each household quiver.  Europe is experiencing similar birth rates.  Without importing some labor, looks like we’re gonna be short-handed as people die and retire.  Some rural areas were already experiencing labor shortages before the pandemic.

I’ve half-jokingly said that without a child to look out for you when they’re trying to decide whether to pull the plug on you, your fate may be left to distant relatives or strangers.  A friend of mine was in the same predicament.  The attending physician filling in for the weekend wanted to take him off life support.  His wife fought back and won him ten more years of quality life.  Glad she was there.

I’ve told my wife that without a wife and kids, a man doesn’t have a lot of motivation to do much more than the minimum.  I think most of us need a purpose, a reason to work hard and provide for those counting on us.  The Bible tells us it’s not good for man to live alone.  It seems that we need the feeling that we’re a part of something bigger than ourselves.  Maybe it’s just God’s way of helping us not to totally focus on our selfish selves.  Or maybe He just didn’t want us to miss out on the joys and benefits we get from sharing our lives with others.

[adning id=”33207″]

Earlier it was jam packed days and nights with school plays, ballgames, livestock shows, and teaching em how to drive.  Now it’s Facetime of ballgames from California and overnight and babysitting stints with the other ones nearby.  Nothing can prepare you as a grandparent for the feelings you experience when you first hold that grandbaby and later watch them develop into beings you could never imagine you could love that much.  I call it a do over with a little or lot of spoiling thrown in.  I have no guilt or shame as we shower them with gifts and sweets and —TIME, something we may have been short on in our first go round with our kids.

In our children, grands, and great grands we see the wisdom and the generosity and the love He wants to bless us with.  I tell people without children to go borrow some.  There’s a world of kids out there wishing somebody would love them.  It reminds me of the swishing sound a can of tennis balls makes when you first open them.  Now, multiply that a million times and you’ll feel the love of that little one pouring out to you from their heart.

By Dr. Juan Harrison

[adning id=”33207″]

[adning id=”33207″]