As a father of ten, yes 10, I like the sentiments here. I agree hesitantly, because I know my journey is different from others when it comes to how many kids one can/should have. We cannot begin to place demands on others that the Holy Spirit has not. Taken too far and we would not have allowed Paul, the writer of most the NT, to shepherd us because he didn’t have ‘enough’ kids. I think pastors, men, leaders etc can take risks in many ways, such as loving those whom are culturally and theologically different, exercising gospel transformed hospitality, choosing where you live (even down to the neighborhood) and work based upon God’s leading, giving a tenth of all you have including your time, talent and treasures. If done right, all of those things are dangerous and require the utmost reliance upon the Lord.
This was a challenging read! I have one little girl and have often mentally pushed off the idea of trying for a second because of how hard even just one can be (though I think I can acknowledge this is less a reflection of how difficult raising a child can be and more so of my own weakness/selfishness).
I leave this post with a twinge of conviction and challenge to pray and seek the Lord for more wisdom and grace to die to myself. Thanks for the challenge.
As a father of ten, yes 10, I like the sentiments here. I agree hesitantly, because I know my journey is different from others when it comes to how many kids one can/should have. We cannot begin to place demands on others that the Holy Spirit has not. Taken too far and we would not have allowed Paul, the writer of most the NT, to shepherd us because he didn’t have ‘enough’ kids. I think pastors, men, leaders etc can take risks in many ways, such as loving those whom are culturally and theologically different, exercising gospel transformed hospitality, choosing where you live (even down to the neighborhood) and work based upon God’s leading, giving a tenth of all you have including your time, talent and treasures. If done right, all of those things are dangerous and require the utmost reliance upon the Lord.
This was a challenging read! I have one little girl and have often mentally pushed off the idea of trying for a second because of how hard even just one can be (though I think I can acknowledge this is less a reflection of how difficult raising a child can be and more so of my own weakness/selfishness).
I leave this post with a twinge of conviction and challenge to pray and seek the Lord for more wisdom and grace to die to myself. Thanks for the challenge.