“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children of one’s youth.
Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.”
Psalm 127:3-5

This morning I heard horrible news. Cousins of a friend of ours lost their twin babies last night. O God, we long for the day when everything is once again under subjection to us! As we think of all our friends and family who have lost children in the womb or soon after, and as we ourselves continue to grieve our loss, I wonder the same thing a friend of mine wrote during his loss: Why do we try? Why do any of us even desire to be parents?

I long to be the man in Psalm 127; to have my reward and my heritage. Is that God’s will for me? God gives, sustains, and takes life. How long will it be before He gives life again? And how long will He see fit to sustain before he takes that life? Parenting is most often peppered with sorrow, grief, and sadness. Whether it be the emotional roller coaster of anxiety and anguish in failing to conceive or the deep sadness of the death of your child. And then there’s the agonizing thought that even if a healthy child is born, there is a chance he may never have true life in Jesus.

Why then do we continue to desire to bear children? Because children are a heritage from the Lord. I place my hope in God that he will once again create life, and that he will continue to breathe life into that child, and give us a healthy boy or girl to raise up in the Lord. Hope. We are not promised this gift, but we hope for it.

And while we hope, we pray. We pray for our first child, Jesse, who is with Jesus. We pray for the children of our family and friends: Jordan, James, Dora, and the others of which Jesus will give names to (so cool). We pray for the twins who were taken home last night to be with God. And we pray for ourselves, and our brothers and sisters, fully knowing that God refining us, but not as silver. God is trying us in the furnace of affliction. (Isaiah 48:10)