4, 2 and New!

Eden turned four Friday, Josiah turned 2 in February and our next baby is due in July. Our new family slogan is: 4, 2 and New! Larry and I couldn’t be more thrilled about the blessing of our children. We thought going into our marriage that children were not even possible so to have 3 in 5 years is a HUGE blessing. Unfortunately, others do not see things in the same way we do.


I have had lots of comments from strangers lately that are troubling. Maybe it’s because I’m in hormone overload, maybe it’s that I’m oversensitive. I feel that people should be cautious about how they speak to others and that personal matters are just that…. personal. So you can imagine how upsetting it can be for people to question our future plans for children when we don’t even know ourselves what God has in store for us.

When people find out this is my third baby I’m often asked, “Will this be your last?” or “are you finished?” These questions can be a little unnerving. Why strangers want to know our family plans just seems nosey to me. If the questioning stopped there that would be one thing. Sadly they don’t. I’ve had someone ask why we would want a third child since we have a girl and a boy. So if one of our children would have been the other gender it would have been fine for us to desire having another child, but this baby wasn’t needed because we have reached the ideal. And it gets better, I had the check out lady at a department store tell me, three was a lot and I should stop.

We’ve had lots of people ask if we knew how we got pregnant. Like we haven’t figured it out yet!  If I feel especially sassy, I’ve replied with something like, “We’ll yeah, we have. With 3 babies in 5 years we’re quite good at it!” I figure if people are bold enough to ask that, then they should be ready for my response.

I wonder how people would feel if I went to a couple that only had one child and asked, why aren’t you having another? Don’t you think your child would want a playmate? Or if I asked a couple that chose to be childless, if they felt selfish for not having a baby. You can see how rude that would come across. I’m sure families in those situations are probably asked those kinds of questions and feel the same way I do about boundaries and strangers crossing them.

What I attempt to do when I’m faced with these kinds of questions is to not get irritated, but use it as an opportunity to share the truth of the Scriptures. Psalm 127:3 says, “Behold children are a gift from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward. So I tell these strangers that Scripture tells us children are a blessing. I love each of my blessings and look forward to what God has in store for our future.

So how would you respond?