Congratulations on baby #5! So many believe these days that having children - especially more than two - is insanity. It probably is, to be sure! My fifth is 3 now, almost certainly the last due to circumstances and her smile and joy are beautiful, definitely a reminder of why we fight against this age of evil!
My fifth just turned 21. I couldn't even count how many strangers, upon discovering I was carrying number five, exclaimed "Bless you!!" as if I were engaged in a heroic act. I know they meant well, but it always left me a little sad. Children are God's greatest gift and the hope of all our futures.
Don't sell yourself short; mom to five is a heroic act! :) I do get it, though. I expected hearing a lot of older women with little snide remarks about having five (growing up in super-liberal land will do that to a person) but, surprisingly, it's almost been the opposite. Lots of older ladies smiling or telling me how they had a house full of kids back in the day... I get the very strong impression that most of them would love to have grandkids, but maybe have one. In my own family, I'm the only one of the cousins on either side who has kids, and at least a couple of them are sliding out of the age range to have them. Children are certainly an incredible gift from God, and by rejecting, shall we say, the natural order of things, there's also a certain amount of rejection of God attached to that.
I wonder if the intervening 20(ish) years has shifted perspective for a lot of people, especially with rising infertility rates and struggles to conceive. I don't recall anyone being snide, but definitely a lot of "better you than me" type reactions. When I was growing up (mid 60s to mid 80s), five kids was average; I had only two siblings and always felt my family was on the small side. So I did find it depressing that having five kids had become uncommon enough to elicit comment and kudos. As you say, having children is actually the natural order.
But that said, given our societal tailspin into decline, I think having kids today IS a courageous choice; the stability of everything feels significantly less certain than when my husband and I were making it. It's hard to imagine the future world that children today are being raised into, the tech dystopia that deadens human connection, stupefies the soul. I have two granddaughters (6 and 1) for whom I am "daycare," and I try to keep myself centered in the present with them, because worry for the morrow can easily suck me into a whirlpool of doubt and despair. But God is our anchor to sanity and goodness, so it helps to "consider the lilies, how they grow..."
Tara! Tara! Tara! My God! This is the best assessment of this moment in time I have read in a long time! So pleased you wrote this. So pleased you shared it with us. So pleased you listen to the Spirit! Thank you. I could copy paste so many parts of this into this comment, but the whole is much greater than it’s parts. Will be sharing this with everyone I know! 🙏🙏🙏
Yes to this! (Also, the first thing I saw in that "New Generation" artwork was a giant blood clot, which of course made me think of you-know-what... Most precious blood of Jesus Christ, save us and the whole world.)
"I see no past disaster that resembles the insanity drowning so many minds."
When I find myself lying awake in the dark of the night, this is the thought that keeps me from sleep. I find it's a continual process of waking back into trusting the Divine, into letting go and letting God, remembering the world is truly in His hands, in His sight, that His view is wider and farther than mine. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not fear.
Thank you for writing this, and to Rod Dreher for sharing about it on his own Substack.
I'm so grateful that you are writing publicly now. It's a privilege to support you.
Beautiful, Tara!
Congratulations on baby #5! So many believe these days that having children - especially more than two - is insanity. It probably is, to be sure! My fifth is 3 now, almost certainly the last due to circumstances and her smile and joy are beautiful, definitely a reminder of why we fight against this age of evil!
My fifth just turned 21. I couldn't even count how many strangers, upon discovering I was carrying number five, exclaimed "Bless you!!" as if I were engaged in a heroic act. I know they meant well, but it always left me a little sad. Children are God's greatest gift and the hope of all our futures.
Don't sell yourself short; mom to five is a heroic act! :) I do get it, though. I expected hearing a lot of older women with little snide remarks about having five (growing up in super-liberal land will do that to a person) but, surprisingly, it's almost been the opposite. Lots of older ladies smiling or telling me how they had a house full of kids back in the day... I get the very strong impression that most of them would love to have grandkids, but maybe have one. In my own family, I'm the only one of the cousins on either side who has kids, and at least a couple of them are sliding out of the age range to have them. Children are certainly an incredible gift from God, and by rejecting, shall we say, the natural order of things, there's also a certain amount of rejection of God attached to that.
I wonder if the intervening 20(ish) years has shifted perspective for a lot of people, especially with rising infertility rates and struggles to conceive. I don't recall anyone being snide, but definitely a lot of "better you than me" type reactions. When I was growing up (mid 60s to mid 80s), five kids was average; I had only two siblings and always felt my family was on the small side. So I did find it depressing that having five kids had become uncommon enough to elicit comment and kudos. As you say, having children is actually the natural order.
But that said, given our societal tailspin into decline, I think having kids today IS a courageous choice; the stability of everything feels significantly less certain than when my husband and I were making it. It's hard to imagine the future world that children today are being raised into, the tech dystopia that deadens human connection, stupefies the soul. I have two granddaughters (6 and 1) for whom I am "daycare," and I try to keep myself centered in the present with them, because worry for the morrow can easily suck me into a whirlpool of doubt and despair. But God is our anchor to sanity and goodness, so it helps to "consider the lilies, how they grow..."
You hit the nail on the head .
Tara! Tara! Tara! My God! This is the best assessment of this moment in time I have read in a long time! So pleased you wrote this. So pleased you shared it with us. So pleased you listen to the Spirit! Thank you. I could copy paste so many parts of this into this comment, but the whole is much greater than it’s parts. Will be sharing this with everyone I know! 🙏🙏🙏
Yes to this! (Also, the first thing I saw in that "New Generation" artwork was a giant blood clot, which of course made me think of you-know-what... Most precious blood of Jesus Christ, save us and the whole world.)
"I see no past disaster that resembles the insanity drowning so many minds."
When I find myself lying awake in the dark of the night, this is the thought that keeps me from sleep. I find it's a continual process of waking back into trusting the Divine, into letting go and letting God, remembering the world is truly in His hands, in His sight, that His view is wider and farther than mine. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not fear.
Thank you for writing this, and to Rod Dreher for sharing about it on his own Substack.
Great writing and from the heart, thank you (and Rod Dreher for signposting).
This is a profound and beautiful essay. I'm so happy to subscribe.
You see deeply. Thank you.