I would have to respectfully disagree

I was at Target last night getting groceries for next week when I overheard a conversation between a customer and the girl who was working at the deli counter.

The girl was young, engaged, and excited about her upcoming marriage. The woman immediately advised her to "never have children."

She went on to tell her how they are "nothing but a burden. You will spend thousands of dollars on them and they will never pay you back. (??) They cause you nothing but grief and heartache and will wreck your car and drop out of college. It's not worth the trouble."

I can only assume this woman is speaking from experience. In which case might I suggest it is less the fault of the children and perhaps has something to do with the negativity that no doubt consumed their upbringing.

Maybe I'm just overly sentimental lately. After all, one of my best friends just gave birth to her second child...a beautiful baby boy! What a blessing! But still, that conversation stayed with me throughout my entire trip to Target. Darn this woman for distracting me so much that I forgot to stop by and check to see if they had any good shoes on sale.

As I wandered the aisles, I realized that some people definitely should NOT have children. Turn on the evening news any day of the week, or go to Wal-Mart at 10:00 at night, and you'll see exactly who I mean.

Others simply choose to not have children, which is perfectly fine and a very personal choice.

But to be blessed with a child only to turn around and tell people how awful they are amazes me. Children are not easy. They have no instructions. Sometimes it feels like there are more bad days than good.

But then there are those days when you realize you are shaping someone's LIFE. Someone counts on you for their every need. It is the closest thing to God's love for us that we will see on this earth...the unconditional love of a child. Children are a blessing, whether they were planned, prayed for, or showed up unexpectedly. I wonder if it's no coincidence that this also happened to be the topic of the sermon at church yesterday. I love it when God ends up having to use flashing red lights to get a message across that we might not have opened our eyes to otherwise.

Our girls are at "interesting" ages. Allison is discovering independence, and at the same time doesn't want to be more than 2 feet away from us at all times. It makes for quite an emotional tug-of-war in her little world. Lauryn is desperate to be a "big girl" but finds herself trying to figure out her boundaries. Some days are just not pleasant at our house!

Life with kids can be completely stressful, if I'm being honest. It's hard work and lots of days I wonder if I'm doing any kind of good at all as a mom. Then God hits me on the head and sends a message loud and clear. Children are a blessing, and all they need or want is to be loved.

And as far as I'm concerned, I wouldn't trade these two for the world.