The child-bearing years come. They are good years, but physically and financially exhausting. God calls each one of our offspring “a gift”, “a fruit”, or “a reward.”
In his book “You and Your Child,” Charles Swindoll says “God never wastes parents. He doesn’t inadvertently dump kids into homes. It is exceedingly important that families place the same significance on children that God does.”
We are blessed if our “quiver is full of them.” The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother and them. Children help us have a treasure of memories. The “arrows” God delivers into our quiver come ready made, needing to be shaped and painted toward the right target. Parents need God’s help in rearing!
In the land of babies Gordon MacDonald tells,
Among the legends is the tale of a medieval sidewalk superintendent who asked three stone masons on a construction project what they were doing. The first replied that he was laying bricks. The second described his work as that of building a wall. But it was the third laborer who demonstrated genuine esteem for his work when he said, “I am raising a great cathedral.”
Pose that same question to any two fathers concerning their role in the family, and you are liable to get the same kind of contrast. The first may say, “I am supporting a family.” But the second may see things differently and say, “I am raising children.” The former looks at his job as putting bread on the table, but the latter see things in God’s perspective: he is participating in the shaping of lives.