![]() ![]() They’ve been told it’s immoral, something not to be discussed, and yet on their wedding night, they are expected to suddenly become experts with their only frame of reference being scenes from movies, television, or, worse yet, pornography. Many youths growing up in the church have heard conflicting messages about sex. Like us if you are enjoying this content. (253) 777-1997 Please give us a call, we are here to help. ![]() Careers Join our team of Christian Counselors.Counselors Find out more about our counselors.Locations We have offices at various locations.Group Counseling Benefit from the support of others.Family Counseling Establish the peaceful home you desire.Christian Couples Counseling Work through challenges together.Individual Services Address your personal concerns confidentially.Services Read about the expertise available.With the help of others, and with God’s encouragement and strength, we can have hope. This story and others remind us that we live in a broken world in which we depend on one another for encouragement when the waiting is long or when children don’t turn out the way we had hoped. Should we stop asking for children because they bring pain into our lives? No. But what did they think when their son lived like a wild man in the desert, provoking the wrath of Jewish leaders and priests with his scathing sermons and unorthodox baptisms? Were they alive when their son was imprisoned, then beheaded? The old priest Zechariah and his wife celebrated the day of John’s birth. And even miracle children, bathed in spiritual significance, carry with them no guarantees of piety. Many couples remain childless after years of agonizing prayer. There is no magic formula for having kids, let alone having them turn out well. They could only vow to do their best and ask for God’s help. And I’m only now beginning to realize how much my parents were like the infertile couple Elizabeth and Zechariah, who one day felt ecstasy as well as fear when God actually answered their prayers for a child. “Then we learned to pray for our children every day.” “We just begged God to give us kids,” they say. To this day the postwar couple shrugs when asked how it all came about. One son wed a doctor, and together they have been active in cross-cultural mission efforts the other son became a pastor and Bible teacher. Instead, the four daughters became teachers in Christian schools. The couple had a good life on the farm, but none of their six children followed them into the family business. A baby boy followed, then three more girls and another boy. ![]() Against human odds, a healthy baby girl was born in the fifth year of their marriage. They prayed that God would trump the doctor’s word. Unfortunately, after years of trying, they learned they were not likely to have children. Growing a family was more important to them, though, than raising crops. It took some time to find work, but they finally found employment at a farm. So the ship kept going, and the young man did his duty.Īfter his tour was over, the soldier married his sweetheart back home. Of course, the ship could not turn around there were clean-up operations to be done in Europe. Halfway across the Atlantic, word arrived that an armistice had been signed. The Second World War was thundering to a close when the young soldier stepped onto the troop carrier that would carry him from the United States to Europe. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.” “Do not be afraid, Zechariah your prayer has been heard.
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