His Plan, Not Theirs

This week I’ve read some horrific news posts concerning sterilization in third-world countries and how they are making it happen through flu-type vaccines. Deception through governments and worldly plans are certainly not God’s plans.

I have young friends who have eight children and some who have just one. Their choices have been theirs and God’s. Not designed and carried out by the government. I can’t imagine not having experienced the joys of raising children—or worse yet, having the ability to have children taken away from me without my knowledge.

My first son, Matt, came just 19 months after I was married to my husband Tom. Our bouncing baby boy was pretty big at 10 pounds, 4 ounces. Matt’s brother Jon came along 23 months later and he was 10 pounds, 11 ½ ounces. They were big kids but that seemed like a great way to have kids, every two years apart.

It was almost four years before my next son came along. I was beginning to think that the two sons were all we were going to have. My pregnancy with Phillip was difficult compared to my first two. He was a huge child, born at 11 pounds, 10 ounces, and 22 inches long. My sugar was up, my back was a mess, and I thought I was having an elephant! My doctor recommended we not have any more children because the kids were getting bigger and bigger each time. My body just couldn’t take much more.

That wasn’t God’s plan. My last child was a girl and she was quite a bit smaller but so different. Leah came along at 9 pounds, 4 ounces.

My husband and I had a plan…sort of. To have a few kids, build a house, own a business, and then just sit back and watch it all happen. And it did.

This week, as I’ve read articles about the intent to sterilize people while supposedly vaccinating them, my stomach churned. What about the couples’ plans? What about God’s plans? Do neither of them have a say in this?

Governments around the world are making life-changing decisions and not informing the public about them. Whether it is known or unknown, many of these decisions will change the way we know families today. My heart aches for those who have already suffered and are now unable to bear children of their own.

In a ministry that was created to reach children for Christ, our minds are reeling after learning about this deadly tragedy. Please pray for the governments of those countries that are participating in this horror. 

A True Widow

Eight years ago, my husband passed away. In searching the Scriptures for comfort I came across I Timothy 5. This was a portion of the Bible that took on a new meaning for me. It focused on being a true widow. What in the world was that? Either you were a widow or you weren’t…right?

Examining the Scripture more closely, you’ll see that there is a big difference. For instance, verses 3-4 explain that a woman who has lost her husband but still has her children is not a true widow. It says, “But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband, and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the Lord’s people, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds.”

Verse 8 explains that ^“Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

The Scripture then tells us what a true widow is. ^“The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help.” This widow is entirely alone with no children or family and absolutely no one to care for her.

Do you have a widow in your congregation or neighborhood, or a friend who is all alone with no one to care for her? Have you made an attempt to do what God commands in this verse in I Timothy 5:16? “If anyone who is a believer has widows in their care, they should continue to help them and not let the church be burdened with them, so that the church can help those widows who are really in need.”

I find great comfort as a widow knowing my children are still alive and able to help me. I can only imagine what it must be like for someone entirely alone in this world, without any family. Take a look around you and keep your heart open to helping a true widow today.