Rejoice With Those Who Rejoice

The other day I had a "text" conversation with a friend of mine... She had been apprehensive about it, because she wasn't sure how I would take her news. She and her hubby are expecting their first baby in the summer.

I was so excited for them, the joy of their family extending was as bright as the sun in the sky had been that day, and if I'd not read the message while I was at work I'd have literally broken out into a spontaneous random dance!! 

She had been worried about saying anything to me because she knows the struggle I am having in my own journey for Bubba, the second friend to have been apprehensive about sharing their excitement, which kinda concerns me. While at the same time the sense of love and appreciation for the friendship we have has deepened at the sensitivity they have extended towards me.

My frustration can never, and will never be at the joy of friends who have started their family. There's nothing more beautiful then watching friends who have walked through life with you, from singledom into marriage and beyond. This is exactly as God intended it, and I am honoured to be a part of any friend's lives at every stage. If I ever become so consumed in my own grief and struggle, then what is the point of me reading (or teaching on) verses like,

Romans 12:15 (NKJ) Rejoice with those who rejoice...

My frustration is, and always has been, at the injustice of those women who don't care of they have a baby or not, using their child as a tool to bargain with an ex, or who just fob-off their child with anyone who will have him or her. You know the kind of woman. She's often found on Jeremy Kyle waiting the results of the DNA test to let her know which of the two... three.. five... more options of blokes she slept with will be the father of this child. 

The way I see it, this was not God's design for family, and not His plan or purpose when He created each baby in his or her mother's womb. God's design is that a man should leave his parents, joined together to his wife, with whom the next generation could be lovingly conceived. Call me a naive romantic, but this is what fills my heart with joy.

So for each of my friends who reads this, and worries about telling me when God grants them the desire to become parents, please don't. I will genuinely be able to rejoice with you, and won't be saddened by what I am going through. To be honest... I can't wait to lean from you in your journey, or to meet your gorgeous child, when he or she is ready to face the world. 


Father God, thank You for the gift of parenthood, the gift of new life being developed in the bodies of women around the world... but especially in the bodies of those I know and love. I pray, Father God, that You will watch over mother and her bubba, and develop the bond between them, and between the hubby as they watch over their wives and developing child. And may You, Lord God, be the strength for every woman carrying the gift of their child, and may You Lord God, be the greatest gift the child will ever receive in their lifetime. May the child grow in spiritual strength to become all that You have purposed for such a time as this. May he or she have a deeper understanding of who You are than either parents do. In Jesus I pray.