Children are an inconvenience, right?

Before I write about exactly how I got into the pro-life movement, I feel I must address a certain ad that is running currently on tv.  There is a commercial out right now advertising for the use of an IUD (intra-uterine device) by a known maker.  It is a long commercial and one that I'm sure many women stop and listen to.

The images and message are so disturbing that I feel I must address it.  The commercial shows a couple doting on one young child, as well as showing that child's messes throughout the day.  Each time the child "gets into something", the mother says something to the effect of "yeah, I can wait a little longer to have another child."  She says it so often and with a look of distress on her face. The child is looking innocently at her as all young curious children do, while she looks down disappointingly.

Our society has moved so far away from a family centered mindset, that many young couples today plan not to have children or they plan to have just one...maybe two.  They also think they can plan exactly when they will have this child.  Many couples wait well into their thirties because they are building their bank accounts.  It is this mindset that has caused so many couples distress at their apparent infertility once they "decide" to begin their families - as if it's their decision anyway.

This ad is a very sad statement on how we perceive our children.  Let's face it, they are a bother, right?  Boy, if I don't have any kids then I'll get to continue my lifestyle forever...or, when this baby gets a little bigger, I'll be able to return to my lifestyle.  And babies are so much work.  Who would want to put themselves through that more than once?  Guess what?  Babies and children ARE a lot of work.  They do not come with an operating manual.  They are messy and dirty and slobbery.  When they are toddlers, they say things like, "I don't like you!"  Young children are needy.  They need to be carried - a LOT!  If they get sick, you are their only hope for ever getting better.  You'll lose a lot of sleep.  You'll get wrinkles.  They even color on your walls sometimes and look at you with the utmost pride in their artwork.

The truth is babies and children are the greatest gift God can ever give someone.  They love you unconditionally.  You are the center of their universe.  They love to kiss and hug you with all their might.  They love to please you.  They want to be held because they love you so much, they can't stand to be away from you.  They need you because that is the way God intended it to be.  The parents and child do this dance of give and take.  It takes through the toddler time period for parents and child to really get to know each other.  So they dance...round and round...through the crescendos and the diminuendos.  It is a beautiful dance and one to be savored at every note.  Being a parent is not about trying to get out of your responsibilities.  It is about owning up to the ever most awesome responsibility of raising healthy children and sending them forth into society to make a better world for you and me.  We need to stop trying to plan our lives so much and begin accepting God's plan for mankind..to make beautiful loving families grounded in faith!