Week 1

During this week I have pondered a lot about the choices that couples are faced with when deciding matters regarding having children. How do I decide how many children to have? Should finances play a part in that choice? The Lord has shown us time and time again how important families are to the Plan of Salvation. He has given us temples so that we may be sealed to our spouse and children for eternity. He gave us 'The Family: A Proclamation to the World' so that we may know how to raise our children in a loving and gospel centered home. The world grows increasingly more wicked every day and Satan is trying to find any way to convince us that we should not have children. He does not want them to be able to gain bodies. But the Lord wants all of his sons and daughters to have the opportunity to come to earth and receive bodies. 

A few weeks ago I went to an extended family reunion. The oldest person attending was my great grandma. My great grandpa had already passed away a number of years prior. As I looked around, I realized that every single person at the party was there because of my great grandparents. My great grandma had given birth to six kids and each of them had kids who had also had many more kids. It astounded me that because of my great grandparents, hundreds of spirits, including me, were able to come to earth and gain bodies. What's more, each and every one of us had been raised with the gospel. How amazing is that? Then it occurred to me that if my great grandparents had chosen to have only five kids instead of six, how many of these spirits would not have been able to gain bodies? Or would have been born to families who were not blessed to have the gospel in their lives? 

The Lord has tasked us with the responsibility to "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth" (Genesis 1:28). For every child we have, generations upon generations of His children will be able to come to earth to be tested and receive mortal experience. In class this week, Brother Williams shared with us a quote that particularly stuck with me.

 "There are multitudes of pure and holy spirits waiting to take tabernacles, now what is our duty?—To prepare tabernacles for them; to take a course that will not tend to drive those spirits into the families of the wicked, where they will be trained in wickedness, debauchery, and every species of crime. It is the duty of every righteous man and woman to prepare tabernacles for all the spirits they can."

- President Brigham Young

I particularly liked his use of the word 'tabernacle'. It is a reminder that our bodies are temples and we are honored with the opportunity to be able to create one for a spirit who is waiting in heaven to be able to receive it. The more children who are born into a loving and gospel centered home, the faster the gospel will spread through this world that is rapidly becoming more and more influenced by Satan.

As for financial matters, I believe they are definitely something to take into consideration when having children, but even if circumstances are not ideal, I believe that the Lord will provide a way. The apostles and prophets counsel us to be as financially stable as we can be. However, I do not believe money should be used as a reason to delay having children. He will never abandon us if we are doing all we can to be obedient to Him. 

There is a family that I am very close to which has seven kids. However, their parents have always struggled with money and their living circumstances aren't ideal. I have pondered before whether or not their parents did them a disservice by bringing them into a life full of money struggles and constant stress. But despite those trials, each of their children has grown up to be missionaries and are the most worthy and honest people I know. I actually think it is a shame that they were not able to have more children than they did. 

Ultimately, the decision of how many children to have is a decision that is between a couple and the Lord. However, we should always keep in mind the blessing and honor it is to be able to create a tabernacle for a beautiful spirit waiting to join a loving and gospel centered family for eternity.