Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Having fun in Northern Ireland


We have finally made it to Northern Ireland. Our days have been packed with ministry in lots of different places here. Tonight we are in the Republic of Ireland in Dublin where Rick is speaking in a Romanian church. We enjoyed ministry in New York City on our way out.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Will it be a Happy Mother's Day Thirty Years from Now?

What will your child's world look like? When we answer this question, we often think in terms of technology, finances, and new inventions, but if we were to know the reality of what this world will look like in just 30 years, it might give us cause to reconsider our current trends in hopes of preserving for our children, the culture of Christianity that we have enjoyed.


It's nearing mother's day, and people often ask me about the number of children that I have. What can I say??? I have ten children because I love children! I don't have ten children because I like changing diapers, getting up in the middle of the night, enjoy labor and delivery, don't miss going out with friends, and don't have a need for privacy! However, several years ago, not only did God put a love in my heart for children, but I realized that many of today's mothers are going to have to step up to the challenge of doing what other generations have done--even if it was done then because there were few other viable options.


In past generations, our Christian culture has been maintained largely because women had a culturally sustainable number of children. Although they may not have realized that the privileges and freedoms they enjoyed came in a large part because of the number of children they raised to carry on their deeply-felt beliefs and convictions, that is the real result of what happened.


Today, we have plenty of options for avoiding having children which those generations before us did not have. Now we have the option of limiting children, and many have taken up the culture on that option and have achieved a higher lever of affluence, freedom, and career success than our mothers before us. While these things are not necessarily to be avoided, we should rest assured that there is sowing and reaping and cause and effect. Whatever we sow, we will reap, and by the looks of it, we may want to change course rather quickly. Is there anyone out there who will step out of the norm and accept the responsibility for averting a coming culture change? Are there those who will accept the stigma that our culture attaches to the couple who chooses to have a large family and who chooses to give up temporary freedoms of adulthood for the responsibility of raising future generations?


If you are truthful and if you are brave, take a look at this video on you tube. Keep in mind I did not produce this nor do I know the organization who did, so don't get mad at me! However, if you can stand some truth about the statistics of what your child's world will look like, check this out...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-3X5hIFXYU. Happy Mother's Day!