Friday, April 18, 2008

Words I won't forget



Sometimes in life, you meet someone and you know you will not ever be the same. Or at least you hope you won't. I have had the privilege of meeting many such people. This week, we had one of those people staying with us for a few short nights...and I hope that our whole family will not be the same. Pastor Paul, from our sister church in Uganda, Africa, came and stayed with us. The kids are forever endeared to him. Now, there is much to be said...about their church in Uganda, about Pastor Paul, about kids and their ability to love well beyond our own capacity...and hopefully I will have time for some of those words later. And just to be clear, this post is not meant to stir up controversy, or anything of the sort. It is merely to share some words that I had needed to hear, that I pray I will not soon forget.

In one of our conversations with Pastor Paul about families in America, we were sharing how it is often looked down upon to have more than the average two children...it is even thought of as irresponsible by many. It is a rare occasion that I don't receive some sort of comment whenever I am out with the kids (especially now that you might be able to guess that I am pregnant). Anyway, Pastor Paul said, "It is sad that where we are poor, in Uganda, we have many children (the smallest family is 5, the average is 10), and yet here, where you have the resources to provide for many children, they are not wanted."

Even now, when I typed those words, the tears come, and my heart breaks. Our house is not huge, but is more than adequate, even more than we need. Pastor Paul said that in Uganda, two families would share the area that is our dining room (and it is not a big dining room). All this is just to share that I needed to hear those words, they will not soon be forgotten, and I am so thankful for Pastor Paul. How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

9 comments:

Tonya said...

Amen! I love having a "big" family. Great post.

heidibelle said...

Wow Lisa... it's so amazing how God can bring to us just what we need. I'm so glad you were able to host him and get that encouragement. I have been praying for you.

Anonymous said...

That's really neat that he said that, what a poignant thought.
It is pretty weird that our society looks down on having more than two children, and even those of us who have only more than one "extra" get comments from people.
Thanks for sharing. :)

Courtney said...

Hi Lisa,
I don't know if you remember me but we once worked together at Happy Ventures Preschool and you actually took me to a party where I met my husband, Aaron!I found your blog through Lisa Stryker and love keeping up with old friends. I just had to write to give you words of encouragement that I hold in my heart and think on whenever I feel like I am being overtaken by all my kids (we have 3 little girls, by the way!) No where in the Bible does it say you can ever have too many kids. In fact, the opposite is true...Psalm 127:3 says, "Children are a gift from the Lord; babies are a reward." The more kids you have the more blessed you are! For some reason people always comment, "My, you sure have your hands full" when they see me with my kids and my standard reply is, "Yes. I AM blessed." My question is, when did 3 kids (or even 4 or 5) become "too many"? Anyways, I didn't mean to rant but I think big families are great! If you want to check out our family and see what's going on with us I have a blog at joefish4millie.blogspot.com
Take care! Courtney Nicholls

Christine H. said...

Cool post, Lisa.
Not to stir up anything, but I don't think society looks down on people who have more than two kids. But maybe I never hear it because I only have two kids. I think big families are great, even though I only want a small family. I am sorry that people give big family mom's a hard time. We should all just mind our own business, I guess.

I am so excited about tomorrow! See you then!

Christine H. said...

Oh, and I have heard so much about Pastor Paul. Amber Shea's teacher, Miss Debra, did a fund-raising thing for Psalms Ten and Pastor Paul spoke at Noah's Ark today. He sounds like a wonderful man.

Courtney said...

It was great hearing from you Lisa! To sum up the past 8 years in a nutshell....Aaron and I were married March 18, 2000 and then Aaralyn was born 1/22/04 followed by Ciana on 7/7/05 and then Emerie on 1/12/07. They are all 18 months apart and I love it! They are already the best of friends. In September 2004 Aaron quit his job where he was working for an Architecture firm as a draftsman to go to school full time to get his architecture degree. He has been commuting to downtown LA everyday for school and went summers to cut out a year which has culminated in today being his last day!! This whole experience has been a testament to how faithful and miraculous God is. We were really scared when we began this journey and didn't see how it was possible but with God's grace I was able to continue being a stay at home mom and Aaron didn't have to work either and could just focus on school. I'm not sure where our path is going after today but I'll keep everyone posted on my blog! Oh, and thanks for the new computer game site...Aaralyn is really into reading right now and I'm sure she'll love it!

Rebecca said...

I wish I could meet him. I never get to come down while he's there. But I'm glad you guys were blessed, and are being blessed again! :)

And I've gotten to the point where I really just don't even hear people's comments anymore. I think I'm finally immune.

Tonya said...

Hey Lisa, I just tagged you for 7 random things about you! Let me know when you post it!