Way of blessing

(Thanks to Andrea for providing the link to Danielle Bean's post, which inspired the following)

Since my last post, I've been thinking over the way children are such a beautiful example of a blessing that results from doing God's will. In the Catholic way of thinking*, one way of living according to God's will is to be open to new life within marriage. When else do we get to say "thy will be done" with such a tangible result as a new human being that becomes a permanent fixture in our lives? As I mentioned in my last post, raising kids is hard. But this is part of the blessing; I truly believe our children bring us closer to God by un-doing our selfishness.

At some point, most of us will have to decide whether or not we will consider that God might have something to say about our fertility and family size, which has drastic consequences in all directions. Many people have been called to great sacrifice in their walk with God- foregoing marriage to become a priest or nun, leaving family & security to be a missionary. However, most of us will not become a priest, nun, or missionary and 'doing God's will' can become as mundane as holding our tongues or choosing which house to rent. But, being open to having a large family (or even just one very inconvenient pregnancy, or trusting God with infertility) is a 'rock your world' decision when compared to what society tells us is desirable. Isn't it grand that God would allow the majority of humankind to face this issue? That we would have such a big reminder of where our hearts are? Yes.

*The Church recognizes there are valid reasons to prevent conception by using Natural Family Planning, but reasons to postpone children need to be brought before God in prayer to seek his will. This isn't solely a 'feel the spirit' affair - much has been written, such as: Humanae-Vitae