GroshLink

A friend in ministry passed along to us Behind the baby gap lies a culture of contempt for parenthood. He and his wife were grieved that many see children/child-bearing as a burden and sometimes even curse. As his child turned 1, he and wife could not help but rejoice in the gift of children.

Theresa and I find day-by-day responsible living only by the grace of God provided through His Presence, People, and World. We acknowledge our dependence and that it is tough to live in a fallen world both in individual and larger societial frameworks. Join the countercultural community of God as we seek to live another way that described below:

The point is that parenthood is against the grain of all the aspirations of our culture. Go back to the point where I started - the pregnancy anxiety around care. That anxiety is provoked by more than just the logistics of childcare availability, despite what the nursery campaigners argue. It's there because pregnancy sabotages three characteristics highly valued by our culture.

First, independence: pregnancy heralds at least one relationship of dependence, and there is often greater dependence on partners, mothers and, eventually, childminders and the like. But you've spent much of the previous 10 years attempting to eradicate any hint of dependence, either of your own or of others on you. Secondly, pregnancy is about a long-term commitment, and having avoided all such (including probably to your partner), you are, at the very least, uneasy about it. Finally, the big bump in your stomach spells out one thing for sure - a huge constraint on many choices, and choice has been integral to your sense of a life worth living.