And There May Be Children

Our family relationship had grown to the point that it was already easier for us to move forward together than to live without each other. I could not even imagine that life with a beloved friend called “wife” could bring so much joy and blessing. How wonderful it is to wake up every morning and see the one you love with all your heart, and to receive from this dear friend reciprocal blessings in the form of mutual love, rejoicing that we have each other!

Family life, filled with mutual love and respect, becomes an endless source of God’s blessings for our hearts.

At one moment of our mutual joy, an interesting thought struck me: “What if we have children? And we are not even ready for such a gift from the Lord.” This thought was so clear and important that I decided to share it with my beloved and understand what to do next. She told me that she was thinking the same. We realized that we might receive an addition to our family that we had not even asked for yet. We agreed to hold an unscheduled council and carefully look into the situation.

After prayer, I decided to take the initiative in the conversation and asked straight out: “Will you give us a child?” She smiled and said, “Yes.”

I asked further: “And will you give us two?” She thought and replied: “I will.”

I decided to find the limits of her endless hospitality and asked another bold question: “And will you give us three?” To which I immediately received a firm reply: “Let’s stop at two and see what that is like!”

I understood that it was not worth asking further questions about increasing our family, but I expressed my concern that we knew nothing about raising children, and that perhaps we should resolve this lack before someone appeared. She agreed with such an approach, and we expressed the desire to begin studying from the very conception of a child and to understand what and how best to do so as not to make mistakes.

We did not know when the Lord would bless us with children, or whether He would give us anyone at all, but we decided to pray about it already now and ask for God’s blessing and guidance in all our discoveries and knowledge in this matter.

I was very troubled by the state of the world, and I understood that modern society is not the best place to raise children. And with these concerns, I bowed in prayer, trying to understand how best to proceed in this situation. I understood that the battle for our souls would never cease, and if new people entered this battle, the enemy would also attack them. But the Lord would protect them according to our faith. My wife had the same concerns and poured out her soul in begging for wisdom from above. As a result, we came to the conclusion that life and death are in God’s hands, and we gave this matter to Him, deciding that if He gave us offspring, we would do everything possible to raise them worthy of Eternal life. In a prayer of thanksgiving we gave this question to Jesus and began searching for the necessary material.

First, we decided to find out whether there were any works on this topic by Christian writers. We began calling our fellow believers, trying to find out from them which books were best to start with and whether they had anything for us.

Listening to the answers of our friends, we concluded that giving birth to and raising children is a whole science and an unexplored world of new discoveries, not yet closed to us, but awaiting our research to surprise and delight us with its wonderful revelations.

Our brethren gladly answered all our questions, and we decided to write down everything new and interesting that experienced people told us, and then discuss it all together at our family councils.

An ocean of new discoveries poured into our family. We could not even imagine how responsible it is to bring new people into the world and to plant our worldview into their hearts, teaching them to see this world as we see it. And at the same time, how interesting and exciting it is to form the character of the one whom God has given you forever!

Observing my wife and listening to her stories, I realized that she dreamed of becoming a mother and caring for those little people who were not even in the plans yet. Though we had decided to have two children to begin with, we did not know how the Lord would answer our desires.

Our search was successful. We were given books on child-rearing, child psychology, and on everything connected with conception and birth. We also decided to receive medical consultation on this matter, so that later we could compare our spiritual and physiological knowledge and understand their connection and beauty.

Realizing what responsibility we were taking upon ourselves by deciding to bring new people into this world, we began to pray even more for God’s guidance and blessing in this matter. We wanted to consult specialists on how compatible we were for childbearing, and what kind of lifestyle we needed so that our offspring would be healthy. On the recommendation of our brethren, we quickly found doctors who professionally dealt with this matter and were ready to cooperate with us and take us under their observation.

We were given certain recommendations and advice. We were told what foods and drinks to abstain from and what lifestyle was best to lead. Our health principles, by which we already lived, fit perfectly into the new medical advice, and we were very glad that we were already on the right path to experiencing new discoveries in the beauty of health.

We also decided to study all the books together so as not to have future conflicts of revelation, but to create something common and right in one spirit.

It felt as if someone was already supposed to be born to us, although in fact nothing had yet happened. All our friends began calculating the date of the appearance of our new family member, and we politely joked, letting them understand that we were only preparing for this and wanted to have the necessary knowledge in order to meet this blessing fully armed and with wisdom from God. Few understood us. They told us that once someone appeared, then we could learn. But we decided to study this science in advance.

The doctors told us about all kinds of dangers that could be prevented if one consulted and was examined in advance. They also made us understand that they could help us conceive if it did not happen naturally. But we decided not to rush things and to wait for God’s blessing in this matter.

It was so interesting to learn a new science, which would never be unnecessary, but contains so much information that would be useful both now and in the future.

Discussing these matters with my wife, we noticed that our different opinions merged into a single concept, where each of us had our own role and responsibilities. I understand that I will not be the one carrying the child, but my influence on its development exists, and therefore I am learning how to become a proper father, so that through my ignorance I do not make fatal mistakes in this matter.

1. Please read Psalm 126:3-5; Genesis 1:27-28; 2:18,23-24; 9:1,7; Psalm 127:3; 144:12; Proverbs 17:6; 20:7; Matthew 18:3; 19:13-15; 1 John 3:2; Malachi 4:5-6 in the light of this lesson.

2. What did you understand from this topic?

3. What other verses from the Bible came to your mind?

4. Is wisdom from above needed in the matter of childbearing?

5. Is having children in the last days a sin?

6. For what purpose does the Lord give us children?

7. Would it be wise to study materials on raising children before they are born?

8. Are children a good thing?

9. What would happen to our world if no more children were born?

10. Will the Lord give the necessary knowledge to those who ask and seek?

11. Can our children understand whether they are dealing with wise parents, or whether their father and mother are ignorant in raising them?

12. What gives parents wisdom in the matter of child-rearing?

13. Does the world offer its own alternatives if we do not seek God’s?

14. Do father and mother need unity of opinion in the matter of raising children?

15. What will happen if parents do not have unity in raising their children?