Good Things Must End...

Aren't my kids gorgeous? I think so, so does their mother. As of Friday, this will be all the kids we have. I have been de-armed, so to speak. Beth and I have been talking about it ever since before Kaitlyn was born but we never did anything about it. Well, that day has come and gone. I had done what most men dread doing and gotten myself fixed. I will have to say, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought, but wasn't the funnest thing I have ever done either. The surgery went fine once I was numb, and the recover is OK as long as I stay on my medication.

Not to get too into this story, but the reason I bring it up was because as Beth and I were waiting to have the surgery done, something came over her. She realized the finality of what we were doing. She realized that we wouldn't have any more kids beyond our 3. She was a little bit bummed because there are times that we have talked about having another, but then Kaitlyn does something we don't like and we realize we don't need another one.

But in this thinking of final endings, I asked Beth the question of whether she believed that God had a specific path that He wanted us to follow, or does He allow us to choose between two good options and bless us, as long as we are doing His work? Should we as Christians have limited God by taking the control of our reproduction out of His hands? Ever since the first year of our marriage we left our having kids up to God. We believed that He would give us kids when He knew we were ready, and in looking back, He was right. But now we have taken away that control, or have we done the responsible thing and limited it in a safe way.

This is a question that we have grappled with as we are looking for a new youth ministry position. Does God have 1 church that we are supposed to go to and if we miss it we are in trouble, or does God allow us to choose between several churches and as long as we are looking for His will, He will bless us. So that is the question of the day, do you believe that God has a single path that we are to follow or do you think He allows us to choose from several different options?

The Bible tells us that God knows the plans He has for us, are those plans absolute?