Sarah D. Shearer

While many Christians would rightly oppose the mission of Planned Parenthood, I have observed that far more of us than we would like to admit have adopted the mentality that we can plan parenthood around our whims and desires.

because of the advent of birth control, so many decades ago, women specifically were given a false illusion that they could control when and how motherhood happened to them—as if it was some sort of magical thing you could just declare , and poof, pregnant with a healthy baby.

Because of the pill it became less a natural process of marriage and more of a planned event that could happen at any point she so desired.

We tend to only think of Planned Parenthood ending a life, but often the mentality of “Planned Parenthood” is prevalent when we actually want a life, but we want it in a specific month or season or timeframe. not in college, only when you have a house, not in the summer, only with a three-year age, gap, etc….

I have not been a mother long, but I have been pregnant five times over the last 4 1/2 years and I can tell you this. Children do not come according to “the plan”.

Sometimes we desperately long for a baby and a baby just won’t come.

Sometimes a baby comes unexpectedly and then we lose them only weeks later.

Sometimes we get twins, sometimes babies arrive too early, sometimes they come with insurmountable challenges, and sometimes they come right on time and everything seems perfect for a while.

But if you are a parent for any length of time, and you have decided to follow Jesus, you will learn that you must trust God with your children. This is the entire topic of my second book. (Coming soon??)

If we truly believe that God is sovereign, then is he not sovereign over the womb? Does he not know the time and the days and what we need when we need it ? Is he not faithful enough to provide Grace when we feel overwhelmed or over full or completely empty?

I fear that family planning and all that Margaret Sanger “pioneered “ for women has been so very detrimental our societies’ entire mindset and approach to children. Children have become an accessory or an add-on that we seek out when we feel like everything is just right and we are fully equipped. But the funny thing is, things are never just right and we are never ready and we actually really suck at planning. Families are not happier now than they were 70 years ago. The birth rate has plummeted and mothers are struggling. Planned Parenthood has not served us well.

Children are not a guarantee. They are blessing. They are a reward. They are

a gift.

I know moms right now that would be devastated if they were found out they were pregnant tomorrow because they don’t feel ready.

I also know moms who have been hoping for a positive pregnancy test for years now.

We can never step inside the shoes of another woman, but we can all accept the invitation to trust that God is kind and good and that he is writing a good story with our family, and that he is worthy to be trusted, even when things don’t make sense. Never let the false illusion of control allow you to place your trust in human inventions when only God is worthy to be trusted and completely surrendered to every area of our lives. I think many Christians have chosen to surrender to God in every other area, but that of family because we have been told the lie that this is actually an area we can control.

For those who don’t understand why things are happening too fast or not fast enough, I really want to encourage you to just lay it all of the feet of Jesus and trust him with your children. He knows what he’s doing. Get your health in order, take the tests, do everything you can that you know of, but rest in the kindness of God who has never forgotten you or the desire of your heart. I am praying for you and rooting for you.