They are madly in love. They will be married soon. They want to wait a long time to have babies. They waited a long time to find each other and just want to enjoy each other for awhile. They see all their married friends who have babies. The couples with children are no longer affectionate with each other and they are always exhausted. Looking at other couples having children doesn't appeal to them too much.
This is sad to me. Do couples need to stop being affectionate to each other once they have children? Are they so exhausted that all their energy goes to their children and not each other? Shalom Pearl Brand has a great take on the importance of the love between a husband and his wife when they have children.
"I have told my husband more than once that I hope the Lord will come back before my children reach teen years, so that I will not lose any of them to the world. Then yesterday, I realized my perspective had changed and I told him, 'I have no fear of losing my children." In shock, he asked me what had changed my mind. Smiling, I told him, 'Because they will see the same thing in my marriage that I saw in my parents' ~ LOVE.' Now, I am not talking about just mushy or passionate love; I am talking about real love all the way to the bottom of the soul, the very foundation of love. When you see it, you say, 'That is what I want.' I think I can speak for all my brothers and sisters in saying that the one thing that gave substance to what my parents taught was their example of love for each other."
When you begin having children, don't forget your husband. Continue to be a help meet to him. Love him in the way he needs to be loved. I believe many husbands don't want many children because they feel neglected when children come along. Wives think their husbands are big boys and can take care of themselves. This is wrong thinking. They DO need you! They married you because they needed a help meet.
Never forget that you were a wife before you were a mother and you will be a wife long after your children have left the nest. Children are God's property assigned to parents for a short time. Raise them in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord but the greatest thing you can do is to love their father. Never forget how much your children need a father and never forget to make their father your first priority.
Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.
Psalm 127:3-5
Go wish the father of your children a Happy Father's Day
and do him good ALL the days of his life!!!
and do him good ALL the days of his life!!!
